In Need of Love
by Jakius Emrys
Summary: As a boy, Harry Potter wished to be loved, but all he received was hate and scorn. He lived his life in constant fear, until one day, his magic whisked him away. He was found in Zootopia by Nick Wilde and raised as his own. Follow their story as they face numerous threats, some of which are not from Zootopia, but from the alternate reality in which Harry was born. AU. REWRITTEN
1. A Cry in the Desert

**Author Note: This story is in response to a challenge by drax2471 for a Zootopia/Harry Potter crossover.**

 **The rules are as follows:**

 **1) Must take place before the start of Zootopia, and the Harry Potter books/movies (except of course, for chapter 1 of the first book)** _ACCEPTED (at least for the first few chapters)_

 **2) Dumbledore, Weasley (except the twins, Bill and Charlie), and MoM bashing** _ACCEPTED (may change at a later date)_

 **3) No yaoi/slash** _ACCEPTED_

 **4) Must take place in Zootopia universe, and Harry must be raised by Nick Wilde** _ACCEPTED_

 **5) Powerful, mod or death Harry** _ACCEPTED (powerful)_

 **6) Abusive Dursleys** _ACCEPTED_

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 **Also, I know many people say this, but the worlds of Harry Potter and Zootopia are not my own. Those are the intellectual properties of J.K. Rowling, Byron Howard and Rich Moore. However, I claim any and all O.C.s as my own (if they aren't actually my own, then I will make a note of it at the bottom).**

Chapter 1  
A Cry in the Desert

It is sometimes said that you will never know the power of yourself until someone hurts you badly. This was a saying that ten year old Harry had heard before, but had never truly believed it at the time.

The first time he heard it was during a talk on abuse at his school. Two weeks prior, Harry's uncle had beaten him senseless in a fit of drunken rage after his laying off at the company. Where was Harry's power then? Where was it whilst he feels his bones braking and his skin welting from the force of his uncle's blows? Was it buried so far beneath the surface that not even the most brutal of beatings could hope to breach it?

With each question, Harry grew more uncertain, and with each beating, Harry became more frightened of the power his uncle wielded. The type of power that he would never have even among the most downtrodden of society. And though Harry feared this power, he could not help but crave it. To have at least some semblance of the joy that others had of holding someone's life and livelihood in their hands.

And, funnily enough, it was this longing for power that led to the second time he heard a person utter those words. After having suffered enough punches from his cousin to last a lifetime, Harry, in a rage, lashed out at his cousin the moment he got within five feet of him. And, as if by some unknown power, his cousin was thrown back a good 30 feet away from him, with more broken bones and bruises than he would've got if he'd been hit by a train. Despite being horrified by the grotesque view that was Dudley, Harry couldn't help but feel a sense of joy and pride from the _power_ he had felt coursing through his veins at that moment.

That pride was soon replaced by wonder and curiosity when, out of nowhere, three figures appeared in the shadows, each accompanied by a small popping noise. As they stepped out into the light, Harry was confounded by how strangely dressed they were.

The first figure was an old man wearing long purple robes and sporting a luscious beard that fell almost to his baggy knees. He was followed by a short, dumpy woman with mismatched clothes and flaming red hair, whose kind smile told a very different story from her piercing brown eyes; and a nervous-looking portly man with a bowler hat perched atop his balding head toddled after them.

None of them said a word as the old man plucked a weird-looking stick out from beneath his robes, and pointed it at Harry's forehead, its tip glowing a bright red as its wielder regarded his target with seething anger. Anger at Harry, or at what he'd done, Harry could not tell, only knowing that this man was not on his side.

"You'll never know the power of yourself, Harry," the man said, his voice rasping as he spoke. "Until someone hurts _you_ , NOT the other way around!"

And from the stick he held in his hand, a white light sprung forth and splashed against Harry's face, rendering the boy unconscious, unaware of what had recently transpired.

But it wasn't until the day before Dudley's tenth birthday that Harry truly knew what the saying meant, and what it really felt like to hurt.

For that was the day, that Harry lost him.

That was the day that Harry lost the one person that he trusted above all else. His best, and only remaining, friend in the whole world had run away from him within seconds of Harry displaying, what he considered to be, his greatest gift: this _power_ that flowed through his veins.

Harry could remember the day as if it were yesterday. And it still pained him to think about it.

It still pained Harry to think about _him_ and how, in a way, it was all his fault.

* * *

 _St. Grogory's Primary School  
Friday, June 29th, 1990_

The sun blazed in the sky on that day, and the many kids were running around outside after a long day of end-of-year tests. There would still be a couple of weeks left of school until reports came, but everyone was relaxed and enjoying themselves what with the burden of tests lifted off their shoulders. On the field, Dudley and his gang were playing rugby*, tackling each other into the ground, whilst the more conservative kids were either reading books or lying in the sun, enjoying the heat of summer. All in all, everyone was relieved for the end of the year, and couldn't wait to go home.

Harry, who had just gotten out of a rather difficult math test, scanned across the schoolyard in an attempt to spot his friend, Caleb Bristow. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his friend's trademark red hair glinting in the sunlight. He noticed that Caleb once again had his nose in a book and, despite himself, Harry chuckled.

 _Typical_ , he thought, shaking his head in amusement. _Never seen him without one, don't know why I'm surprised._

Harry crept up behind Caleb, ever so slightly, until he was able to read the pages of the book in his lap. It appeared to be a new book called _The Bourne Ultimatum_ _**_ , of which it seemed Caleb was deeply engrossed in, so engrossed in it, that he didn't notice Harry bending over until his mouth was an inch from his ear.

"Hey, Caleb!"

Caleb jumped about a foot in the air, his book tumbling to the ground, as he grabbed at his chest.

"Jesus, Harry!" he panted, his hand against his heart. "You... almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry, couldn't resist." Harry replied with a cheeky smile on his face, as he sat down next to him.

"How do you think you did on Ms Seymour's test?" Caleb said, picking his book up.

"I think I did alright." Harry said confidently, before his face fell. "Let's only hope Dudley did better or my uncle's not gonna be happy."

Knowing this was a sore subject for Harry, Caleb wisely backed off, feeling more than a little awkward.

"So... did you just come here to scare the daylights out of me, or was there something else?" Caleb probed cautiously.

"Oh, right!" Harry exclaimed, his thoughts back on track.

"You remember that _thing_ we were talking about last week?" he queried, planting his right hand inside his pocket.

"You mean the time your cousin set your pants on fire in the middle of Mr Rowland's class?" Caleb recounted, remembering that rather uncomfortable talk in the nurse's office.

Harry scowled.

"I thought we agreed to never discuss that again." he stated in a deadpan manner.

"Sorry."

"And no, I was talking about the _other_ thing we talked about last week." Harry said, looking at his friend with excitement written all over his face. "You know, about all the strange things that seem to happen around me."

"Yeah. What about it?" Caleb inquired, now curious as to what Harry was saying.

"Well, look at what I can do." Harry replied eagerly, removing two rubber balls from his pocket and holding them out for Caleb to see. As if each were held up by a string, the two balls levitated out of the palm of his hand, orbiting around each other like the Earth around the sun.

Caleb's eyes widened comically, his mouth falling agape at what he was witnessing before him.

"How...?"

"I don't know," Harry responded, answering the unspoken question, a smile creeping over his face. "but what I do know, it's that this is the coolest thing to ever happen to me."

"Dude!" Caleb cried. "This is the coolest thing to happen to anyone. It's like you can use the Force from Star Wars."

"All I need is a lightsaber and I could be a black-haired Luke." Harry laughed, deciding to kick it up a notch. He made the balls spin faster and faster before he flung them into the concrete wall behind them, expecting them to bounce back. They never did.

Within seconds, Caleb's look of awe turned into one of confusion. Walking over to the wall, he spotted the balls, each embedded almost a centimetre into the concrete, cracks spreading out in all directions away from the point of impact. And as Caleb turned around, he noticed a look of achievement plastered over Harry's face, and for some reason, that scared him.

It scared him more than anything ever had in his short life, and in that instant, Caleb thought back to the many "strange" things that had occurred around Harry. Bullies spontaneously becoming hurt without anyone touching them, accidents happening to people who had angered Harry, and even how some of their classmates (one in particular stuck in his mind) had disappeared into thin air during school hours never to be seen again. None had anything in common with one another, except for one thing, they had all angered Harry in some way beforehand. And whilst Harry had been with him each and every time one of the incidents had happened, this ability that Caleb now knew Harry to possess, brought everything into doubt.

 _Was it Harry who caused them all_ _?_ Caleb contemplated. _Could he have done such things, even unintentionally, in his anger?_

With each question, Caleb become more and more terrified. And whilst he was best friends with the black-haired, bespectacled boy in front of him, Caleb felt he had to draw the line here. He had to let Harry know.

 _Before he hurts me_ , he selfishly thought.

Summoning every drop of courage he had, Caleb looked into Harry's sparkling emerald green eyes... and spoke.

"H-Harry," Caleb stuttered, his palms becoming sweaty. "Maybe this... gift of yours isn't so much a gift as... it is a curse."

The sparkle in Harry's eyes disappeared, which was soon replaced by an intense fire of fury that crackled behind his eyes.

"What do you mean, a curse?!" Harry pronounced behind gritted teeth.

Caleb turned to the wall and back again, staring pointedly at Harry.

"Okay, I may have put too much power behind it," Harry conceded. "but that doesn't make it a bad thing."

"Yes, it does." Caleb retorted, hoping against hope that Harry would see it from his eyes. "What if you get angry at me for some reason, and I end up in a hospital because of this... power of yours!"

"That'll never happen!" Harry yelled, his temper rising with each word coming out Caleb's mouth. "You're my friend, I'd never do that to you."

"Oh, really?" Caleb challenged, playing his trump card. "Was that the attitude you had with Jake?"

Harry stumbled back as if he'd been punched in the gut, remembering the ten-year-old boy who'd once held a place in Harry's close knit of friends.

There was a long silence. None of them said anything, until Harry spoke with fear in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, his voice beginning to shake. The fear escalated when Caleb did not answer. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!"

Caleb slowly opened his mouth to speak, but within those few crucial seconds, Harry's fear rose to previously unknown heights. The rubber balls flew out of their holes in the wall at speeds close to a bullet's.

The first ball flew towards Caleb's shoulder, smacking him from behind with an almighty CRACK!

And the second ball... shot in the direction of Caleb's head.

It was only through sheer luck that Caleb avoided the blow. In response to the first hit, Caleb had doubled over in pain a mere second before the ball struck him in the back of the head, missing him by a millimetre.

Harry watched in horror as his friend keeled over in agony, his eyes widened in shock. A THWACK was heard behind him, and he twisted around to see a gaping hole in the wooden fence behind him, big enough to fit his finger through.

He spun back to look at Caleb, who, upon seeing the hole and where it was located, stared at Harry with terror in his eyes. Terror at Harry, and terror at what he'd almost done.

"Caleb..." Harry started in an attempt to apologise, but he was too late. Caleb had already run away, grasping his shoulder and with tears streaming down his face from the pain.

Harry's knees buckled, and he fell to the ground on his knees, sobbing. He knew that what had transpired here had shattered their friendship, and it could never be repaired. Not after today.

* * *

 _Present Day  
4 Privet Drive_

Every day after that, whenever Harry saw Caleb in the hallways, he tried to apologise for what had taken place that day. And every time, Caleb looked at him in fear and ran away. And although he never told anyone what had happened to his arm, Harry knew that Caleb had not forgiven him.

The loss of his friend hit Harry hard, so when school let out and Dudley turned him into his personal 24-hour punching bag, Harry fell into depression. He hid in his cupboard for most of the holidays, only coming out for chores and food. His birthday passed and he didn't even notice. Grief soon overtook him, and the Dursleys did nothing to ease his pain, what with their constant belittling and abuse. Harry wouldn't even use his power to defend himself, as it was a constant reminder of his mistake.

It was at this time, 2 weeks before the start of term, that Harry found himself in the kitchen, glaring at the rubber ball in his hand with hatred. He hated what it represented, and of what he was capable of. And yet, he could not find the strength to throw it away, as if some unknown force was keeping him from tossing the last memoir of his friendship away.

He was so deep in thought, that he didn't notice the food in the pan burning until the smoke alarms began to blare. And, like a red rag to a bull, his uncle stormed towards him, his face purple with anger. Vernon grabbed Harry by the hem of his shirt, and flung him across the room, his head whacking the tip of the dining room table as he fell.

His vision blurry, and blood pouring down the back of his head, Harry looked up at his uncle wearily. His uncle's nostril's flared, sending small fragments of snot in every direction.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, BOY?!" Vernon screamed at the top of his lungs. "TRYING TO BURN THE PLACE DOWN, I SUPPOSE! A FAT LOAD OF GOOD THAT'LL DO YOU!"

"P-please, uncle, it... it was an accident." Harry whimpered, cowering before his tower of an uncle.

"AN ACCIDENT? I'LL SHOW YOU AN ACCIDENT!" he yelled, unbuckling his belt as he advanced on Harry.

For Harry, the first lash stung the most. Then the second. Then the third, until finally Harry stopped feeling any pain at all. This was when Harry knew that his back was a mangled mess of flesh and blood. Salty tears streamed down his face, as cries of pain was issued from his mouth. In his mind, Harry could only think of one thing, of how he wished that someone would actually love and care for him unlike how the Dursleys "took care" of him. He wished for someone who would love him for who he was, unlike Caleb.

And as the burning food really _did_ start a fire, Harry's fear and pain manifested itself into something only heard of in stories. A luminescent bubble surrounded his quivering body, glowing brighter and brighter with each passing second, until suddenly he vanished from the world. Never to be seen by a mortal man again.

Which as the fire spread, would also happen to the Dursleys.

* * *

 _August 14th, 2014  
Sahara Square, Zootopia_

Nick Wilde, on the outside, appeared to be nothing more than a stereotypical red fox. Sneaky, conniving, sly and a born hustler, Nick earned the respect of his friends and the ire of those he hustled. He was almost without a care in the world and was only ever thinking of his next hustle, or so it seemed.

For in reality, Nick was, under the surface, a fox frightened of not being accepted by society as who he was. Facing a traumatic childhood, he closed himself off from the rest of the world, and only a select few knew the real Nick Wilde, and many of them were his own family. And his family knew him to be a sweet and caring fox, who just needed a little push to get out of his hardened exterior.

Unbeknownst to any, today was the day he got that little push.

After a successful day of business, which included things such as selling stolen goods for Mr Big, and making a few extra bucks on the side with his pawpsicle hustles, Nick sauntered home to his small flat that was situated right across from Savannah Central. As he counted the cash he had earned, he heard a cry of pain echoing somewhere in the shadows.

Normally, Nick would've ignored this, as it didn't concern him at all, but for some reason, Nick felt an obligation to investigate. Following the noise to an alleyway two blocks away from his flat, Nick was surprised and horrified to find a young red fox lying on the ground with multiple gashes in his back. Upon closer inspection, the gashes appeared to be from a belt.

 _Holy shit_ , Nick thought, _this kid's taken a beating_.

Knowing that this kid would probably not be wanted back at his home, and with Nick not being on the good side of the local law enforcement, Nick, somewhat begrudgingly, hauled him over his shoulder, and scampered back to his apartment, ignoring the looks he got from the bystanders.

As he ran back to his apartment, he didn't notice the fox's eyes opening to reveal emerald green eyes that lay below a patch of white fur in the shape of a lightning bolt.

* * *

 _* For people reading this in America, rugby is the English/New Zealand equivalent of American football, but without such extreme protection and a few rule differences. And, as I support my country, ALL BLACKS RULE!_

 _** The Bourne Ultimatum (the book, not the movie) came out in February of 1990, for those who are prissy about your facts (I was originally going to make the book Jurassic Park until I realised that it was released in November of the same year, a few months AFTER this, unfortunately).\_

 **Author Note: Please review, if you have any challenges for me please put them in your review and with your fanfic account so I can message you if I am able to do them.**

 **Let's try and get this to 10 reviews before my next update.**

 **Thanks.**


	2. A Not-So-Familiar Face

**Author Note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed and put my story into your favourites. I really appreciate it. Special shout-out to vcj, drax2471, Slytherin Winchester17, crazy dragon ninja and Camoss for their support.**

 **Also, I'm starting this thing called "Ask the Author". If you guys have any questions about the story and where's it going, feel free to put it in your review. I will answer basic questions like "When's Judy going to come into the story?", but not questions that are big spoilers to the plot.**

 **There'll also be a couple challenges at the bottom, with prizes for whoever gives the correct answer first.**

 **Hope you enjoy.  
**

* * *

 _"Remember that the most valuable antiquities are dear old friends."  
-_H. Jackson Brown Jr

* * *

Chapter 2  
A Not-So-Familiar Face

 _August 15th, 2014  
Nick's Apartment, Sahara Square_

Blinding pain wreaked havoc through his body as he awoke from his slumber. His eyes creaked open ever-so-slightly and, expecting to see the inside of his cupboard, widened as he found himself in an unfamiliar room. This room was unlike any he had seen before (but then again, the only rooms he had seen had been in school or the Dursleys' house).

In one corner of the room was clearly a kitchen, though much smaller than any Harry had seen. In another was a small desk, with a strange device* plugged in at an outlet, with a picture of what looked to be a carrot printed on top. But right in front of Harry was the strangest thing he had spotted yet, strange because it was familiar in some ways, but out of his comprehension in others. For in front of him was what looked to be a large television, but for some reason, it was thin enough for him to hold between two fingers.

Pushing himself off the rather comfy couch he lay upon, Harry reached behind his back to assess the damage on his stinging back. He was astonished to feel the welcome touch of bandages under his shirt, wrapped around his torso. It appeared someone had treated him during the night, a gesture for which Harry was most grateful for.

As he pulled his arm back, he felt a slight tug at his bandages, which, as he found out, was caused by his fingernails getting caught in the mismatched weaving of the gauze. Or at least, what _were_ his fingernails, as he quickly discovered. For within seconds of pulling his arm back, a ray of sunlight shone through the closed blinds covering the window, and rebounded off his hand. And that was when Harry realised that the back of his hand, his arms and even his feet were covered in a dark orange fur, and that his nails had changed into sleek black claws.

Panic began to spread over Harry. Twisting his head hastily, he lumbered toward what looked to be a bathroom, complete with porcelain tiles lining the floors and walls. Squinting through the beams of sunlight that impaired his vision, Harry stared at his reflection in the mirror above the sink in horror.

His once pale skin was now almost completely covered in orange fur that spread from the top of his head to his toes. His ears had disappeared from the sides of his head and positioned themselves atop his head. In addition to this, his once angular nose had transformed in a slender muzzle that stretched a couple inches from his face. But perhaps the most striking difference was the addition of a long bushy tail that now curled around his feet.

As a rather intelligent boy, Harry knew what he was staring at in the mirror. He had seen many of them peeking out of the bushes of Little Whinging from time to time. They usually didn't scare him, but now all hope of not being frightened was thrown out the window.

He had somehow transformed into a red fox.

And in the moment of realisation, Harry screamed.

* * *

Nick had seen his share of beatings, it was a given when you'd lived in the slums of Zootopia for so long. But nothing had compared to the apparent ferocity with which the kit currently sleeping on his couch had been through. It almost looked like the kit had gone through a meat grinder, from the deepness of the wounds and the amount of blood Nick had seen.

In fact, Nick was both surprised and impressed with the fact that the kit was still alive. Many older people had fallen victim to beatings as brutal as what the kid had obviously encountered.

But for Nick, many questions remained. Who had been the attacker? Had it been a parent, a relative or had the kit just been in the wrong place at the wrong time? If it wasn't a relative or parent, where were they? Were they looking for their child, or did they just not care?

With each question, Nick became more and more frustrated. However, for the time being, he decided to just let it go, and focus on nursing the kit back to help. He knew he wouldn't be welcome back at the City Centre Hospital, especially not after the last hustle he pulled there, so Nick would have to make do with what he had on hand.

He was abruptly ripped out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of the kit screaming. His instincts kicking in, Nick rushed out of his bedroom and was surprised to find that the kit wasn't where he'd left him on the couch, but in the bathroom, backing out with his eyes fixed on something that Nick could not see.

The young fox turned to Nick, and his eyes, if possible, grew wider.

"S-s-stay away." the kid stuttered. "J-just stay away."

"It's alright, kid." Nick said, taking note of the way the fox's mouth dropped slightly. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

The young fox's eyes darted towards the door. Within an instant, he had dashed across the room and pulled the door open so hard, it banged off the wall and nearly closed again.

Nick tore after the kit, cursing under his breath.

 _He's gonna injure himself again at this rate,_ Nick thought.

Down and down three flights of stairs they raced, Nick huffing and puffing as he did so. Nick finally reached the ground floor, stopping for a moment to catch his breath, and noticed the fox stopping in his tracks, looking left to right at the billboards featuring pictures of Gazelle and the Fur Fighters in shock.

Nick straightened up, breathing heavily, and pushed open the door to the outside world.

"God, you're one fast bugger, aren't ya?" Nick commented, chuckling.

The fox jumped, spinning around as he did so. He began to back away in an attempt to get away from Nick, not noticing that he had backed onto the street behind him.

"Hey, dude, stop where you are!" Nick warned, getting a glimpse of an oncoming giraffe-driven truck. Unfortunately, the fox didn't listen and kept backing up, getting ever closer to stepping out in the lane. "STOP! STOP!"

He didn't listen and stepped out onto the street. It was only then that he took notice of where he was standing, looking up to see the truck barreling toward him, the driver unable to see the young fox in front of him.

Adrenaline pumped through Nick's blood at this moment. He rushed towards the young kit about to be flattened, seized him by the shoulders and pulled him to the ground mere seconds before he became a fox pancake. The truck drove right past them, completely oblivious to the disaster that had nearly taken place.

Nick looked to the groaning fox that lay beside him.

"You okay?" he asked in concern, hoping he hadn't caused the kit's wounds to open up again.

"Yeah." the kit groaned, nursing his shoulder.

"Good." Nick responded, huffing. "Then what the hell were you thinking?"

"Sorry." the kit apologised. "It's just..."

"It's just what?" Nick retorted, standing up and offering his paw to the fox.

"Nothing." the fox replied, grabbing Nick's paw.

"Well, that nothing almost turned you into a new colour on the street." Nick remarked, without a glint of jesting in his eyes. "Might as well go back up to my apartment, and sort this mess out."

He glanced back at the nervous kit and finished, "If you're okay with that?"

The kit looked as if he was about to disagree, before he thought better of it, following the older fox to the apartment complex. There was a short silence as the trudged up the stairs to Nick's apartment. As Nick fumbled with the doorknob, he turned to check if the kit was still behind him.

"What's your name, by the way, kit?" Nick probed.

The young fox looked up at Nick timidly.

"H-Harry." he answered. "Harry Potter."

"Well then, Harry, Harry Potter," Nick said, opening the door and taking a seat on his couch. "Why don't you tell me what happened to you?"

* * *

 _August 15th, 1990  
_ _Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts_

Meanwhile, in an alternate dimension, an old man, with azure-blue eyes sparkling behind half-moon glasses, fumed with rage as he stared at one of the many devices he possessed. This particular one tracked the location of one Harry Potter, and unfortunately it wasn't working. It couldn't even give him a broad range of where the last Potter was, which ticked him off even more.

The only consolation left was that the boy's life stone had not cracked, meaning he was still alive in some shape or form. He just had to figure out where the boy was. He knew the boy couldn't have been with the Dursleys, at least not when the fire started, so that eliminated one possibility. He had to find that boy, and he had to find another family that'd to keep the boy as downtrodden as possible. It was either that, or he send the boy to a family that was loyal to him and the Light Side.

Perhaps he could bargain with the Weasleys. Their safekeeping of Harry in exchange for his hand to that fiery young lass of a girl, Ginny. Maybe he could throw in a little monthly payment from the Potter account to sweeten the deal. Of course, he'd pay the youngest son, Ron, to be his "friend". And Molly's overbearing nature would keep him from reaching his full potential. Yes, this was a good plan.

All he had to do was find the boy, which he would do before Harry's first year, or his name wasn't Albus Dumbledore.

* * *

 _Nick's Apartment, Zootopia_

"So let me get this straight." Nick clarified with a disbelieving smirk. "You used to be this furless species called a human, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Which evolved from a species known as apes, which if I remember my history correctly, have been extinct for over a million years?"

"In this world, yes."

"Well, now I've heard everything." Nick laughed, reclining back on the couch. "But then again, I've heard stranger stories from my brother."

"Do you believe me?" Harry questioned, hoping he did.

"It's kind of a tall tale." Nick replied. "But I have heard conspiracy theorists talk about other "dimensions", so to speak."

"I'm telling the truth."

"I know." Nick grinned. "One of the advantages of doing what I do is that I have a great bullshit detector."

"However, since you obviously don't have a place to sleep," he continued, not knowing he was making a decision that would change his life. "I guess you can crash here, at least until we can find someone else to look after you."

"What about you?" Harry asked in confusion.

At that instant, the cold walls Nick had built around his heart began to melt ever so slightly. He was taken aback by the abrupt question from the little fox that sat in front of him. And for in a while, Nick had a genuine smile on his face, unlike the fake smile he made so often. However, his heart sank as he realised he was not the role model this kit needed in his life.

"Trust me, I'm not the type of person who should raise you." Nick stated sadly. "You'd need someone responsible who'd do anything to keep you safe, and won't risk everything for money like I do."

Harry's face fell.

"I think you'd do anything to keep me safe." Harry muttered to himself.

Nick's superb sense of hearing caught this sentence, and with that, his resistance crumbled. He hadn't felt this protective of someone since before he left his brother.

"Tell you what, how 'bout we try this thing for a month?" he suggested, his voice choking up. "And after that, if you still want to, you could stay with me, okay?"

Harry's face lit up like Christmas had come early for him.

"Really?"

"Really."

Harry, in a fit of absolute joy and happiness, launched himself at Nick and wrapped him in a hug. This move surprised Nick, and he, awkwardly, patted Harry's back.

"You kits, so emotional." he jested, chuckling.

* * *

 _2 Months Later_

As it turned out, this experience turned out great for both Nick and Harry. Harry finally got the chance to have a compassionate adult in his life, and someone who cared about his well-being, and Nick had his rather icy exterior almost melted away by the small kit he had essentially adopted.

And although Nick's friend, Finnick, had firmly objected to Nick adopting the kit, he couldn't help but come to like this new addition to their life. Especially since the presence of Harry had let to much more sympathy than Finnick got during their hustles.

In fact, it was after one of these successful hustles that something happened that would once again change their lives.

They had just cleaned up from a hustle that involved selling fake rugs (in which Harry acted as if he was starving because of the low amount of business his father had been getting over the last month), when they heard a frantic honking of a car horn. Turning to the source of the noise, Harry spotted a red truck with a ram at the wheel speeding towards an intersection that a fox** Harry's age was crossing.

The driver appeared to be attempting to apply the brakes, but they just weren't working. And yet with every second, the driver got closer and closer to the unaware fox. In a split-second, Harry made a decision that he knew his dad wouldn't agree with. He ran in front of the fox, and stood his ground against the oncoming truck, raising his arms for impact.

"HARRY! NO!" yelled Nick, but he was too late. The truck was too close for him to get out the way. And Nick mentally prepared himself for his adopted son to get smeared across the pavement.

But to his surprise, the instant the truck touched Harry's paws, it slowed down dramatically. The truck pushed Harry back a bit and into the fox behind him, but other than that, nothing major happened.

This was when the fox finally noticed the truck that had nearly collided with him. Harry noticed that he appeared to have been listening to his iPod, and shook his head at the fox's stupidity. Weren't foxes supposed to be smart?

"Whoa, thanks, man." said the fox, not even questioning how Harry had stopped the truck, before he walked off, still listening to his music.

Harry watched the fox as he went, and glanced an unfortunate sight as he did. Nick was standing at the end of the intersection, his mouth agape, and his eyes full of fury.

 _Uh oh,_ Harry thought.

* * *

 _*The first person to correctly guess what this "strange device" is, AND the reason for why it's so strange to Harry, will get to ask a maximum of 2 questions about the plot which I will answer honestly, to the best of my ability. This is better than "Asking the Author" as I will answer any questions you have, not just ones that have almost no impact on the story at large._

 _**The first person who can manage to correctly guess both of the mammals involved in this near accident (the ram and the fox) will get an O.C. of themselves written into the story. This is important, as both of these people are important characters in the story. Hint: One has already been mentioned in this story, and the other is a part of canon (not telling if it's Zootopia or Harry Potter canon)_

 **Author Note: For those who have noticed the big glaring difference in the years that happen in each world (e.g. 1990 in Harry's world, 2014 in Nick's world), just know that I've done that on purpose. Not only does it mean that the plot in Zootopia can move along quicker, but also in this alternate dimension, with apes having gone extinct, the animals evolved quicker than humans would've evolved, by a marginal factor of almost a quarter century difference.**

 **Please review with your answers/guesses and I'll post the winner's names in the next chapter, however in order to do that correctly, you need to review with your account, and not just as a Guest. I will still give credit to the Guest, if they get it right first, but unfortunately, the prizes can only go to a person with an account (as I can actually PM them).**


	3. Mysteries Answered

**Author Note: Thanks to all the people who've reviewed chapter 2. I really appreciate it. Special shout-out goes to the winner of Challenge 1: Camoss, who correctly guessed that the device was Zootopia's equivalent of a MacBook (in this universe, it is however a CarrotBook).**

 **Another shout-out goes to vcj, the only one smart enough to figure out Challenge 2 (even if he didn't give me the exact name); and Kylevalheru, who was kind enough to point out a mistake of mine in chapter 2.**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter, and can I please get more attempts at the challenges. Thanks.**

* * *

 _"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."  
_ -Arthur Conan Doyle

* * *

Chapter 3  
Mysteries Answered

The row that followed the incident at the pedestrian crossing was one of the worst that Harry had had with Nick. And though it wasn't the worst argument Harry had experienced, it was one of the few that Harry truly felt sad about.

Nick had, mercifully, waited until they were back at the apartment to shout, but he had given the cold shoulder to Harry the whole walk home. In fact, it was this silence that upset Harry the most, as if Nick couldn't even bear to speak to Harry after witnessing his power. It reminded Harry terribly of Caleb's rejection all those months ago. And in that moment, Harry became scared. Scared of being rejected once again, scared of losing the closest thing he had to a father, and scared of what lay ahead.

The click of a door unlocking had never sounded quite like a jail cell as it did now. In his mind, Harry was already picturing the many ways Nick would react. One such scenario, though unlikely considering Harry's past experiences, would be Nick accepting Harry's power as a gift, albeit dangerous one. But yet another scenario playing in his mind involved Nick asking that scary shrew they recently met to "ice" him, though Harry did not know exactly what the shrew meant when he said that. The possibilities were endless, and all but the most unlikely frightened him.

Nick sat down on the couch, looking as if a great burden had been placed on his shoulders. He motioned for Harry to sit, and he complied, not doing anything that could affect the outcome of this argument even more. The fox in front of him seemed to age ten years within seconds, looking less like the full-of-life 27 year old that he was, and appearing more like the forty year old he'd never hoped to be.

"Harry," Nick uttered, each word seeming to anger the older fox. "What... possessed you... to run out onto the street... in front of speeding cars no less... and practically throw yourself in front of a truck?"

"I couldn't just let that fox die." Harry explained, glancing down at his feet. "I had the ability to stop it, and I did."

"But what if you didn't?" Nick queried. "What if you didn't have this _special_ power of yours? What then?"

The question hung in the air, unanswered. Harry, too ashamed to think of what might've happened, chose to stay silent, questioning his decisions. A heavy sigh escaped from Nick's mouth, wishing that he didn't have to say this, but he knew that Harry had to learn the consequences of what might happen if he rushed into situations without thinking it through. It was a hard, but necessary, lesson that Nick had to teach the young fox.

"You would've died." Nick said, answering his own question. "And for me, I would accept any price, any consequence, to make sure that doesn't happen, even if it means sacrificing another."

The fatherly instinct that flowed through Nick when he first found Harry now flowed through him again. His words were so true, and so full of conviction, that Harry didn't doubt Nick's intentions for a second. A river of shame and regret washed over Harry, as he now understood the costs and the profound outcomes his death would've had on the fox who had saved him, on the fox who'd become all but a father to him.

On the fox that now sat before him, attempting to quell the tears that threatened to fall at the slightest of movements. Harry jumped up and embraced Nick, his small arms trying and failing to fully enclose around him. Nick, feeling the sting of salt dripping down his cheeks, returned the hug with gusto.

 _Never let them see that they get to you_ , Nick reminded himself.

But for just this moment, he'd let it slide.

* * *

 _Flamel Estate, Paris_

Nicolas Flamel was many things: a famed alchemist, a trusted advisor and a powerful wizard. But above all else, he was a family man at heart. And even though he may have lived for hundreds of years, every morning he felt privileged to wake up and see his wife, Perenelle, sleeping next to him, as if she were at peace with the world and all it contained.

Many children of his had lived and died in his lifetime, and yet Nicolas remembered every single one of them. From the magnificent bringers of change to the humble seamstresses knitting away, Nicolas loved every single one of them. And most importantly, no matter where they went in the world, Nicolas always kept track of every single one of them.

Which is why, when his "friend" Albus came to him for help in finding a kid that he had lost, he was understandably pissed. However, he was also concerned for the safety of the child, whoever he was, and grudgingly offered his assistance and expertise, of which no one else seemed to have, considering that Albus only used him as a last resort.

"When was the last time you knew his location, Albus?" Nicolas questioned spitefully.

"2 months ago," Dumbledore supplied. "When the device that kept track of him stopped working entirely."

"Do you have the device with you?" Nicolas asked, now slightly intrigued.

"Ah, yes. Indeed I do." Dumbledore replied, handing him the device. Nicolas, surprised at the promptness of this, wondered where the younger wizard had stashed it during this time. After a moment of deliberating, he decided he didn't want to know.

Examining the box-like device in his hands, Nicolas recognised the runes from ones he had previously seen elsewhere.

"Hmm, this appears to be remarkably similar to the tracking device the Ministry uses." Nicolas said, turning a questioning glare towards the sheepish-looking wizard before him. "Looks custom-built, and I assume it's specifically for a single person. Am I right, Albus?"

Dumbledore nodded, replying, "That's correct, my friend."

"Don't call me that." Nicolas insisted, irritated by the man's insistence on their "friendship". "We may have worked together in the past, but that doesn't make us friends."

"Sorry, Nicolas." Dumbledore said, looking affronted.

Nicolas turned a discerning eye back to the device, and noticed a small hair stuck in the middle of the device. Pulling it out, he examined it more closely, noticing it was black and not white, meaning it wasn't Dumbledore's.

"I presume this is the hair of the child."

"Yes."

"Strange." Nicolas noted. "A device of this nature should've been able to track anyone down, even to the precise coordinates, as long as..."

He stopped, looking as if he'd been struck by a streak of divine genius.

Dumbledore seemed to pick up on this, as he approached the older man gingerly, growing hopeful at every passing second.

"As long as...?" he prompted, waiting for a response.

The wizened old wizard turned to his former apprentice and finished, "As long as they were still on Earth."

"What?!" Dumbledore exclaimed, more confused than ever.

"I'm not saying he's in space." Nicolas clarified for him. "If he was, this device would've given a general location of the child, however broad."

Flamel turned his head to Dumbledore and, with a mighty purpose, asked, "How high was this kid's power levels exactly?"

Dumbledore was stunned and confused by this question, but answered, "About 27,000 thaums. Why do you ask?"

At Dumbledore's answer, Flamel's eyes widened and he cursed, "Son of a bitch."

Dumbledore looked at Nicolas in surprise, knowing that he never cursed unless he really had to. Nicolas, noticing Dumbledore's look, decided to explain to the sheltered kid before him.

"Since you obviously haven't kept in contact with _any_ Muggles whatsoever, I suppose you don't know the first thing about alternate realities."

With a silent shake of a head, Nicolas continued.

"Muggles have theorised that, although there is only one _physical_ universe, there are an infinite number of alternative realities." Flamel explained. "For example, the reality we live in could be vastly different to another reality, in which, say there are no wizards. There are a lot of possibilities, however all seem to be linked to significant events in time being different, like humans never evolving or supernatural beings winning both World Wars*."

Dumbledore's eyes began to blank out as the alchemist went on and on about this Muggle theory, which Dumbledore could not for the life of him understand how it was relevant. He was abruptly forced out of his stupor when he saw Nicholas staring at him.

"This kid you lost may have been a Reality Hopper." he finished, staring pointedly at Albus.

"A Reality Hopper? What's that?"

"A person with the ability to travel to alternate realities. Were you even listening?" Nicolas chided.

"My apologies, Nicolas. But what does this mean if he's a Reality Hopper?"

Nicolas pinched his nose between his thumb and finger, trying to prevent the headache he had from escalating.

"It means that even if we could summon enough power to find the child, it'll take years just to calculate which reality he disappeared to." Flamel cried at the top of his voice. "That's why only powerful wizards, those with over 20,000 thaums, can even _hope_ to travel between realities! Merlin himself was able to do it on his own, but it took so much energy from him that he was easily defeated by Nimuë, a mere apprentice. Only a Reality Hopper is able to make the jump without much effort, and even then, they have to be born with the ability."

Dumbledore's eyes widened, and he suddenly realised that he would have a lot of work to do in order to bring the boy back into his grasp.

"Thanks for the help, Nicolas. I'll get to work right away." he said, marching out the estate with a determined fire in his eyes.

 _You better,_ thought Nicolas, _and if you succeed, I will punish you for what must've happened to that child_.

* * *

 _April 20th, 1992  
_ _Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts_

That conversation had taken place almost two years ago, and Albus still hadn't finished his calculations. There were just so many variables that it almost drove the headmaster mad just trying to make sense of them at times. Oh, how he wished the boy had just stayed put or had not been a Reality Hopper. But as he thought of that, he figured out that, ironically, in another reality, he most likely wasn't. And maybe, in an alternate reality, his plan had succeeded perfectly: get the boy to kill Voldemort, make the elder Weasleys happy by selling him off to their daughter, and then discrediting him using his connections with the Ministry.

Unfortunately, all did not go as planned. With so much of his time devoted to figuring out the math, his performance in ensuring the safety of his students had slipped. Just last Halloween, a troll had found its way into the castle and killed one of his students in a bathroom. The poor Gryffindor's parents were horrified when they learnt of their daughter's passing, but Mr and Mrs Granger left the castle with no memory of the magical world, as per custom.

The youngest Weasley boy was also proving to be a bit of a challenge, spouting off tall tales about how he was friends with the great Harry Potter, and of how when the boy returned from his mission from Dumbledore himself, he would bring glory to the house of Gryffindor. The boy's stupidity and arrogance was astounding, and if Albus didn't need the boy so desperately for when Harry did return to this reality, he would've expelled him long ago.

Looking down at his numerous calculations, Albus ignored the migraine that threatened to reappear and pushed on with his work, hoping to salvage what little of the plan he still could.

* * *

 _April 20th, 2016  
Outside Jumbeaux's Cafe_

It had been almost two years since the two young foxes had met, and yet, they remembered it as if it were yesterday. A near-death experience tends to do that to people.

Harry could still remember how close both had been to death, and what he remembered almost as clearly was the day after, when they met again.

* * *

 _October 16th, 2014  
Savannah Central Station_

Harry had been out for a walk on the sweltering summer's day, looking around for any potential hustles he and Nick could pull off over the next couple of weeks, when he noticed a familiar-looking red fox sauntering over to him. It soon became evident that the fox had recognised him too, as he appeared to be heading straight for him.

It was only when the fox got really close that Harry recognised it as the same walk, the same attitude and the same musk as the fox he had saved from the speeding truck the day before. The fox's piercing grey eyes seemed to stare right into Harry's soul, and his smile looked as if it hid a secret that the fox was near bursting with excitement to tell.

"Hey, you!" the fox called out. "I remember you. Thanks for the save yesterday, I really appreciate it."

"No problem." Harry called back. "Next time, be a little more careful."

"Ah, I'm always careful." he jested, knowing the irony in that statement.

"You're about as careful as a pickpocket robbing Vladimir Pawtin." Harry chuckled.

A hearty laugh escaped from the fox as he advanced ever closer.

"That's a good one." he admitted, snickering. "I'll have to remember that one."

"Jakius Emrys," he said, holding out his paw. "You can call me Jake."

"Harry Wilde," Harry replied, shaking Jake's paw. "I once had a friend called Jake."

"And I once had a friend called Harry." Jake retorted, smirking. "I guess we're the same in that."

Silence ensued, and Jake, feeling a little awkward, asked, "So... have you been around here before?"

"Not really, no." Harry replied, honestly. "Just looking around."

"For places to hustle?"

Harry turned towards Jake with a horrified look on his face. Jake had a wide smile spreading across his face, though Harry could not tell whether it was a sinister or joking smile.

"Relax, buddy." Jake said, holding his hands up in surrender. "We're foxes, it's about the only job we _can_ do. I ain't gonna call the fuzz on you."

Harry let loose a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Come on, I'll show you around."

The fox set off a brisk pace, followed closely by Harry. He began pointing out the sights and where the best places for a quick buck were. Near the end of the tour, Harry began to become a little curious.

"So, Jake, how old are you exactly?"

"I turn eleven in a couple of days." he replied nonchalantly.

"Where are your parents?" Harry asked.

It was an innocent-enough question, but for some reason, Jake stopped dead in his tracks.

"Dead, or gone, I don't care." Jake said, his voice catching a bit.

"Oh." Harry responded, kicking himself for asking the question. "I'm sorry. Do you...?"

"I don't live on the streets, if that's what you're asking." Jake interrupted. "I live with adoptive parents, and have for the last couple months."

"I didn't know."

"Didn't expect you to." Jake countered, his upbeat persona coming back to him. "If you had, I'd have assumed you were a stalker."

Turning to the slightly shorter fox, Jake ruffled Harry's head fur, and said, "You're a good kit, you know. I can tell that already."

Jake turned to leave, and Harry felt slightly disheartened, until the fox turned and called back.

"I'll see you here tomorrow, okay Harry?"

A smile spread across Harry's face as he accepted.

* * *

 _Present Day_

The two had become as thick as thieves after that day, and Nick had taken a liking to the kit. Jake had even helped out with a few hustles himself, when his parents weren't around him, of course. And Harry finally found out the reason before Jake's nonchalance around Harry's power. Turns out he had the same power too.

 _What were the odds?_ Harry thought.

They heard a honk from beside them, and turned their heads to the right to notice Nick skulking past a truck that lay in the alleyway. It appeared the ram driving the truck had pulled out and nearly hit Nick.

"Hey, watch where you're going, fox." the ram shouted, exasperated.

Harry rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wondered if large cars and trucks had it out for the three red foxes. It seemed like almost everyday they were narrowly avoiding being spread across the pavement.

"Why don't you take this one, Harry?" Jake whispered. "You much better at acting the child than I am."

"Okay," Harry sighed, shrinking himself with a wave of his paw. "But you owe me."

"Just add it to my tab." Jake retorted, turning himself invisible with a click of his fingers.

Harry smirked. _Ah, this'll never get old_ , he thought to himself as Nick opened the door for him.

Neither of them noticed a grey bunny wearing a meter maid outfit peering in from behind a car.

* * *

 _Meanwhile  
Unknown Location_

She awoke with a splitting headache. The worst she'd ever experienced, which was understandable considering it was a twelve-foot troll that hit her there.

Come to think of it, how was she not dead? And where was she?

Pushing herself off the ground, Hermione noticed her hands didn't look at all like they used to. Frantically, she looked at her feet, her legs and even touched her face and atop her head at some point. And what she found scared her.

She screamed.

* * *

 _* Whoever can figure out who this is a reference to, will win a question about the plot. One per person mentioned (there are two). I'll give you a hint though: each of these "supernaturals" or SUPERHEROES are from different branches of comics, and each have their own movie._

 _** SUGGESTIONS! I NEED SUGGESTIONS!: Give me your suggestions for what species Hermione will be. Keep in mind that this will be a Harmony fic alongside a WildeHopps fic. Put your suggestion in your review, and I will choose the best ones. Thanks._

 **Author Note: Based on my browsing the web looking at various clips from Zootopia, I've merely estimated that Judy arrives in Zootopia round about late April to early May, but I'm just estimating here so correct me if I'm wrong.**

 **Please review, as it really helps speed up the process (I know I've said that before, but it's true, it really motivates me). Don't worry, if you don't review I won't abandon the story, however I won't update as quickly as I would with more reviews. Hint, hint, ;), ;)**


	4. The Pawpsicle Scam

**Author Note: This story has now officially been viewed over a thousand times, and has been visited over 500 times. Thanks for the support, you guys.**

 **And thanks to all the people who reviewed with their suggestions for the species Hermione could be. I enjoyed the variety of ideas, and especially the reasons for them. However, there could be only one winner. And so, after making a random number generator in Python which randomly rolled 5 different numbers, then averaged the number out, before selecting the animal I had input for the number (each of them being one of the suggestions made), I have finally decided on a winner.**

 **The winner of Hermione's new species was CouldNotThinkOfAName, who, if you look in the reviews section, suggested that Harry be like his father and to have Hermione as a bunny.**

 **That's right: Hermione's a bunny. I know there will be questions (and possibly a few complaints), and so I would please ask you to write any concerns you have in your review, and I will get back to you as soon as possible.**

 **Shout-out goes to Camoss, who once again, was the first to understand the reference in chapter 3. Runner up was yukimenoko the ghost. Well done, you two. Thanks for the support.**

 **And now, to business.**

* * *

 _"Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together? Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidences."  
_ _-_ Emery Allen

* * *

Chapter 4  
The Pawpsicle Scam

Nick was really getting pissed with this guy.

"Listen, I don't know what you're doing, skulking around during daylight hours," the large, white-clad elephant said, looking down at the two red foxes in contempt. "But I don't want any trouble, so hit the road."

Nick had to almost bite down on his tongue to refrain from making an insulting comeback, and from the fist his shrunken son was making, he was doing the same. He put on a pleading look, and played the part exactly as they had practiced.

"I'm not looking for any trouble, either, sir." Nick replied, wishing in his head that he could cause trouble for the rude elephant. "I simply wanna buy a Jumbo Pop."

He motioned towards Harry, who took his cue and toddled forward in the embarrassment of a suit he was wearing. Inside, he dearly wished they didn't need the pacifier, but he made sure to keep the false facade of innocence on his face. Hearing a slight catch of a breath, he turned his head to the right and spotted a grey bunny who looked rather taken aback at his appearance. On closer inspection, Harry noticed a police badge that was pinned on what he recognised to be a Kevlar vest, almost hidden beneath a see-through neon orange mesh.

 _Oh no,_ he thought. _Don't screw this up, Nick._

Turning his head back to the counter, Harry barely heard Nick ask, "You want the red or the blue, pal?"

Harry toddled as cutely as he possibly could and placed his hands on the cold-to-touch glass, peering in. He pointed towards the giant red popsicle that lay in the case, turning towards Nick. As he did this, he noticed the bunny near the door look uncomfortable, as if chastising herself for something that Harry did not know, nor really cared about at this time.

The elephant turned towards Harry.

"Okay, come on, kit, back up." he instructed, in a somewhat softer tone than he had used with Nick. "Listen, buddy. There aren't any fox ice cream joints in your part of town?"

"No-no, there are." Nick replied, as both foxes realised they'd have to pull the trump card out. "It's just, my boy, this goofy little stinker, loves all things elephant, he wants to be one when he grows up."

As Nick said this, Harry pulled the mask over his face, and using the controls Jake had given him, made a tooting noise with the trunk.

"Isn't that adorable?" Nick asked, plastering a weak-looking smile across his face.

It was at this point, upon looking at the elephant's disbelieving face, that Nick and Harry realised this was a bust. It would take a miracle for them to get that Jumbo Pop now, but Nick, ever the optimist, decided to at least see it through to the end.

"Who am I to crush his little dreams?"

The elephant was starting to get angry, and he showed it to the two foxes in front of him. His prejudices were starting to become evident to everyone in the parlour as his voice raised.

"Look, you probably can't read, fox," he abused, pointing his trunk at a sign on the counter. "But this sign says 'We reserve the right to refuse service to ANYONE!'. So beat it!"

An elderly elephant stepped up from behind the two, complaining, "You're holding up the line!"

Noticing the bunny stepping forward, Harry saw a way for them to still get a profit. He made the saddest sounding toot noise he possibly could through the trunk, and pretended to look dejected. His prayers appeared to have been answered when the bunny opened her mouth to complain.

"Hello? Excuse me?" she said politely, giving rise to Harry's hope.

"Hey, you're gonna have to wait your turn like everyone else, meter maid." the elephant declared.

Harry was now glad he had the mask to cover up the smile that appeared across his face. He knew that the elephant was going to regret saying that, for Harry knew that some cops could be so damn ingenious when they were so inclined, and calling a cop a meter maid was basically like raising a proverbial red rag to a bull.

"Actually, I'm an officer." she replied in the same cheery tone, showing her badge. "Just a quick question. Are your customers aware that they're getting snot and mucus with their cookies and cream?"

To Harry's left, he heard the abrupt sound of air blowing out a trunk at a rapid pace. He turned to see, to his absolute delight, that a male elephant had spat his ice cream out, _into_ his date's face. Harry had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing.

The elephant at the counter, however, looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, his voice beginning to sound concerned and anxious.

"Well, I don't wanna cause you any trouble," the bunny continued, earning admiration from Harry with each word. "But I believe scooping ice cream with an ungloved trunk is a class 3 health code violation."

The elephant twisted to look behind him at something that Harry could not see due to his current small stature. He heard a rather loud squelch, followed by the sound of skin rubbing against cloth. Harry could feel his skin almost breaking as he bit his lip even harder to keep himself from laughing at the elephant's misfortune. As it was, Harry couldn't stop himself shaking from the effort it took it contain himself.

"Which is kind of a big deal." the bunny finished, chuckling nervously.

Nick looked at the bunny in bewilderment, surprised that anyone, let alone a bunny, had stood up for him. He felt a pang of sadness and regret when he realised that he'd be soon taking advantage of this, but to Nick, earning today's pay was much more important. He had to make a living somehow, even more than before, what with Harry now being an active part of his life.

"Of course, I could let you off with a warning if you glove those trunks and... finish selling this nice dad a Jumbo Pop." the bunny offered.

"Please." Nick implored.

The elephant let out a deep, annoyed sigh, and replied, "Fifteen dollars."

"Thank you so much." Nick thanked, turning to the bunny, and sincerely repeated. "Thank you."

He reached for his wallet, and was genuinely shocked to find that his wallet had gone.

 _That son of a vixen,_ he thought. _When I see that little fox again, I'm going to kill him._

On the outside though, he said, "Are you kidding me? I forgot my bloody wallet."

He finished with a groan, before turning to the bunny, and an idea flashed through his head. A cruel idea, but it would at least allow them to get some profit for the day.

"I'd lose my head if it weren't attached to my head." he joked, but inside he was cursing. "That's the truth."

He knelt down and turned to Harry in his elephant suit.

"I'm sorry, pal. Gotta be the worst birthday ever." he apologised. "Please don't be mad at me."

 _What the hell is he doing?_ , Harry thought. _This isn't part of the plan._

"Thanks anyway." Nick said to the bunny, looking dejected as he pulled Harry along with him.

 _Nice going, Nick,_ Harry thought, _another hustle down the..._

He was stopped in his thoughts when he heard the slam of a paw on the counter, and the bunny saying, "Keep the change."

Twisting his neck, he was stunned to see that the little bunny cop had paid for the Jumbo Pop herself. Never before had Harry's respect for the police ever been higher. He knew that most cops would've ignored this excursion, and he was ecstatic that the one cop who walked in happened to be a wide-eyed idealist. He also felt a pang of regret and guilt twist in his stomach, remembering that what they were about to do would be only just skirting on the fringes of the law.

* * *

 _20 Minutes Later_

"What the hell, Nick?!" Harry yelled, his head turned up towards the fox who was now climbing the pipe to the roof. "I understand swindling money from bigots like that Jerry Jumbeaux guy, but that bunny cop too? She was trying to help us!"

"Believe me, I felt bad too," Nick called down, as he placed his hind paw on the gutter. "But your _oh-so-lovable_ friend Jake stole my wallet. Again!"

"Hey, it's not his fault. He's got kleptomania, he can't help it." Harry defended, tossing the Jumbo Pop up to Nick, who barely caught it.

"Kleptomaniac or not," Nick replied, groaning from the weight of the popsicle. "I'm still gonna kick his skinny ass next time I see him."

Harry noticed a shimmer behind Nick, and sighed.

"That should be easy." he responded. "He's right behind you."

Quick as a flash, Nick elbowed what appeared to be thin air. He was rewarded with a slight _oof_ , before Jake shimmered into existence, crumpled on the red roof tiles.

"To be fair, you didn't actually see me." Jake groaned, clutching his stomach.

"And to be fair, you almost blew the whole hustle." Nick retorted. "Now we're even."

"Touché," Jake chuckled, handing Nick his wallet. "I guess I kinda did deserve that."

"Oh, you did, Jake." Harry called from the ground. "How 'bout we spend less time talking, and more time working? Sun's not gonna be out forever."

They got to work, setting the popsicle into the position where the sun would hit it the most, and gathering the supplies they'd need for the refreezing process when it came to that time. Jake, hoping to make up for his thievery, used his longer arms to his advantage and gathered masses of large glass jars for the melted popsicle to go into, whilst Harry placed and replaced the jars as each got full.

After about ten minutes of this, Nick remembered one slight detail he had forgot: they didn't have a covert way to get to Tundra Town from here. He reached for his phone, which by unfortunate circumstances, had become stuck in his pocket. Nick struggled for a minute or two, before he finally freed his phone from its hostage. Unfortunately, momentum came into play, and the phone ended up flying through the air, over the edge of the roof.

"Heads up!" he called out, fearing for his phone.

Hearing his cry, Harry looked up and saw the phone flipping through the air, again and again. To him, time seemed to just stop, and so he reached his still short and stubby arms out to catch it. By some miracle, he caught it and held it up for Nick to see.

"Oh thank God." Nick gasped in delight. "Mind calling Finnick, would ya? We're gonna need a ride."

"Got it." Harry replied, quickly finding Finnick's number and pressing the call button.

The phone rung once, twice, before it was picked up, with a gruff "Yo!" answering.

"Hey, Finnick, it's Harry. We need a ride for the old Pawpsicle hustle. You in?"

"Be there in five. The old place, right?" the gruff voice answered.

"Yep. Thanks, man. We owe you."

Harry ended the call, and tossed the phone up to Nick, who thankfully caught it this time.

Finnick appeared to have underestimated his skills as a driver, for not two minutes later, he and his beat-up van arrived with a literal bang erupting from the exhaust. The back doors practically exploded as Finnick opened them, his eyes hidden behind his trademark sunglasses.

"All right. Let's load 'em up." he ordered, grabbing a jar full of the cherry coloured liquid, and taking it aboard.

"Just got one last one to fill up, man." Nick called out.

Harry, hearing this, placed the last jar under the pipe, and waited.

* * *

Meanwhile, across the street, Judy Hopps, the officer who had met Nick and Harry less than an hour ago, was placing her 262nd ticket onto the windshield of a car. As he leaned over to place the slip between the wipers, she noticed a reflection in the glass and recognised the figure she saw. The little fox kit she had remembered, still wearing the same elephant suit.

Twisting her head, she spotted the young fox, and slid off the bonnet of the car.

"Hey, little toot-toot..." she called out, raising her hand for a friendly wave. She stopped almost immediately once she saw what was happening.

She spotted a red liquid pouring out of a rain gutter, which her eyes followed up to notice Nick atop the roof, banging the last bits of the melted Jumbo Pop off the large stick that once held it. She saw him toss the stick aside, and slide down the roof, almost surfer-life as he did so. With her bunny hearing, she only just heard what he said.

"C'mon Harry, change back." Nick said. "You'd be a lot more help without the little kit disguise."

"Okay, okay." the young fox (obviously called Harry) replied.

With a wave of his hand, the small fox grew almost an entire foot and a half, morphing from a toddler to a pre-teen in two seconds. Judy blinked in shock and rubbed her eyes just to make sure what she'd just seen wasn't a figment of her imagination. And sure enough, it wasn't. Somehow, that fox had aged years before her very eyes. And not only that, it looked as if the two foxes were doing something rather suspicious with the melted popsicle, as they loaded it up into a van that sat right next to them.

As the van passed, Judy noticed a small unknown fennec fox sitting at the wheel, barely able to see over the top. They had an accomplice, maybe more, it seemed.

So Judy decided to follow them.

* * *

Inside the van, the quartet were blissfully unaware of the tail they had recently caught. They were laughing and joking with each other as they took the tunnel from the sweltering Sahara Square to the freezing Tundra Town.

And then the mood shifted, as Harry questioned Nick.

"So, Nick?" Harry said in a serious tone. "What're you gonna do if you see that bunny officer again?"

"What bunny officer?" asked Finnick, being ignorant of what had transpired at the ice cream parlour.

"Some bunny cop who practically saved the hustle from crashing and burning." Nick told Finnick, before turning to Harry. "And I don't know. _If_ I do see her again, I'll pay her back the twenty bucks with the profit from today. Easy as that."

"You know I'm gonna hold you to that, right?" Harry replied.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Nick said nonchalantly. "Now just drop it, okay, Harry. Don't need you hanging over me like some guardian angel that'll 'lead me to the light'."

"STOP RIGHT HERE!" Jake yelled from the back.

Finnick, in his fright, slammed on the brakes, and skidded to a halt.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" Finnick cursed.

"It's coldest here," Jake explained, showing them the thermometer. "They'll freeze quicker."

"You _really_ need to work on your delivery, though, Jake." Harry said, clutching at his heart.

* * *

Judy looked on in confusion as she watched the van skid to a halt in front of her.

 _What happened?,_ she wondered, as she squinted at the van. _Did they slip on some ice or something?_

From a distance, she saw the back doors fly open, banging as they hit the sides of the van, and four foxes tumbled out, each holding a jar of the melted popsicle. They appeared to be talking to each other as they went behind the van, and out onto a desolate field of nothing but snow.

Judy hopped off the seat of her vehicle, and tiptoed behind them, diving behind a pile of snow whenever one of the foxes turned. Once the foxes stopped, she peeked over the ridge of snow she was currently hiding behind and witnessed the smallest fox making small, deliberate holes in the snow with his paws. As he did this, Judy noticed he placed a small popsicle stick in the middle of each pawprint.

The reason for his behaviour became apparent as the other three began filling each of the holes with the red liquid contained in the jars they carried. As they continued filling the holes, Judy overheard a few snippets of conversation emitting from the foxes.

"God, I chose the wrong attire." one fox complained, looking at the synthetic leather jacket he wore.

"I told you, Jake, didn't I?" another fox (called Harry, if Judy remembered correctly) replied. "I told you to wear something warm, but _no_ , Mr High-and-Mighty couldn't bear to part from his precious jacket."

"Why do we even have to come here anyway?" the fox called Jake questioned, as he continued to pour the liquid. "Why can't we just put them in a giant freezer or something?"

"But then they wouldn't be Pawpsicles." Nick replied, smiling at his pun.

"I'd take that sacrifice any day." Jake replied eagerly.

"Why don't we sacrifice your jacket to a bonfire?" the small fennec fox remarked angrily. "That'll keep you warm."

"You will not touch my precious." Jake countered, sounding scandalous.

Despite the circumstances, Judy couldn't help but giggle at the fox's antics. However, like bunnies, foxes had an acute sense of hearing, and noticed the sound.

"What was that?" Harry questioned, squinting, unable to see anything but white.

Suddenly, a scared-looking brown bunny kit scampered across the snowy plains, looked almost desperate to get away. The foxes all looked up in unison, and upon seeing the kit, shrugged and continued working.

Judy let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

 _2 Hours Later_

Judy stomped up the stairs to her apartment in a rage, and yet she also felt rather dejected. The nerve of those foxes, honestly. Not only did they make her look like a fool, but they also had the audacity to chastise her dreams of becoming a cop.

Anger radiated off of Judy as she unlocked her door, clouds of powdered cement dusting the floor beneath her feet. Today had simply gone from slightly terrible to outright horrible within hours of meeting that original fox duo at the ice cream parlour.

As she thought about that fox kit, she couldn't help but wonder how the hell he had managed to enlarge himself within seconds. That was the type of magic you'd only read about in books or see in movies, and yet that kit used this potentially lifesaving gift for mere hustles. Everything about that Harry Wilde intrigued Judy, and though she may not have enjoyed the company of his father, she wouldn't mind getting to know the kit.

All of these thoughts flew straight out of her head the instant she heard her phone ringing with a MuzzleTime request from her parents. She answered, and was sucked into a whirlwind of questions that took her mind completely off the strange Harry Wilde.

* * *

 _Tundra Town_

Today was turning out to be one of the most frightening days of Hermione's life. Not only was she all alone in an unknown, cold place, but she was also in a vastly different body compared to what she was used to.

However she recognised the body to be similar to the common European rabbit, the _Oryctolagus cuniculus_. That at least told her that wherever she was, there were mammals that she recognised from her world.

But that didn't mean she didn't get scared whenever she saw other anthropomorphic animals, like that quartet of foxes that caught a glimpse of her earlier that day. She even recalled scampering away from them, as if some biological urge was telling her that they were dangerous.

However, before she ran away, one of the foxes seemed to catch her eye. The fox appeared to be a juvenile of his species, based off his height; sporting emerald green eyes, and had a small tuft of white fur that lay nested on the fur on his forehead, which looked remarkably like the description of Harry Potter's scar.

Could this have been where the Boy-Who-Lived had disappeared to? Was this why no one knew where he was or what he truly looked like? Questions poured through Hermione's head like never before, and not all of them held answers this time.

* * *

 _*SUGGESTIONS TIME: How do you think Harry and Hermione should meet next chapter? Post your suggestions in your review._

 **Author Note: This is officially my longest chapter yet. Almost 4000 words. Please review, write what you liked, what you didn't and everything in between. I loved reading every review from last chapter, and I want that much commitment again.**

 **To those wondering why Jake has kleptomania, I based it off one of my friends who had this condition. He's gotten in trouble with the police multiple times, and I would love if you would show your support for him by reviewing. Show him that there are people other than me that stand with him in his struggle with his kleptomania. So please, REVIEW!**


	5. A Case of Regrets

**Author Note: Once again, thanks to those who have reviewed chapter 4 already. Special shout-out goes to Camoss and surviversp, for giving me great ideas for this chapter.**

 **Now sit back, enjoy and REVIEW!**

* * *

 _"There are no words to express my sorrow, and regret, for the pain I have caused others by words and actions. To the people I have hurt, I am truly sorry."  
-_Matt Lauer

* * *

Chapter 5  
A Case of Regrets

"Oh, yeah, you paid her back alright, Nick." Harry snarled sarcastically. "A bunny that not only stood up for us, but unknowingly saved the hustle, is repaid for her kindness by you crushing her dreams."

Nick turned to his adopted son in shock, not understanding why he had such a big problem with this.

"She needed to learn that she's not cut out for the life of a cop." Nick defended, unconvincingly. "She needed to learn that before she became too involved, and ended up living on the streets or even worse dead."

Harry glared at Nick in a disbelieving manner, wondering how Nick could be such a hypocrite. He was about to call Nick out on this, when Jake butted in with his own opinion.

"Harry's right, Nick." Jake said, backing up his friend. "From what Harry told me, she's one of the few cops in this city who is _on_ the side of the oppressed, and yet you paid her back by spitting in her face. A lot of other cops would've just ignored the discrimination."

At that moment, Nick looked back on how he had acted towards the bunny, and quickly found himself drowning in a deep sea of regret. He now realised his hypocrisy in dealing with the bunny, and he recognised his behaviour as being remarkably, and yet shamefully, similar to the prey of the Junior Ranger Scouts all those years ago.

 _My god_ , Nick thought. _Have I become so blinded by anger that I've began lashing out at people who try to help?_

He turned back to the angry foxes before him, and shame began to fill him. Even foxes much younger than him who were aware of what he'd been through, had been wiser and more accommodating than he had been. They hadn't let the officer's species get in the way of their perception of her, and neither should Nick for that matter. And yet, he had, and never before had Nick been more mortified at his actions.

"You're right." he sighed, admitting his folly to the kits. "I am a hypocrite."

The boys' expressions softened, though they continued to wait for something more than a mere confession.

"I-I let my prejudices overtake me." Nick continued, faltering a little. "I just assumed that since everyone else was so prejudiced against our species that, to defend myself, I had to become a bigot too."

"And I never realised how much this act of mine had really influenced _me_ as a mammal," he carried on, sitting down on an unoccupied bench, putting his face between his paws. "God, I acted like a complete arse to that bunny."

Harry sat down next to his father, and hugged him tightly. Nick's eyes began to bulge, and his face began to turn blue.

"C-can't... breathe..."

"Sorry." Harry whispered, lessening his grip. "And it's okay, dad, so long as you realise your mistakes."

Nick's breath hitched, gasping at what Harry said.

"You know, that's the first time I've heard you call me dad." Nick stated, tears of joy beginning to stream down his crimson cheeks.

Harry replied with a simple "I know."

Jake, not wanting to disturb their bonding moment, silently crept away, and headed home. A smile of contentment was plastered across his face, knowing that despite the argument, the Wilde family was stronger for it.

 _Let's just hope that Nick apologises the next time he sees that bunny,_ thought Jake.

* * *

 _Savannah Central  
The Next Day_

The previous night had been absolute murder on Hermione's back. Whoever knew that sleeping on the sidewalk would entail so much pain and agony? Still, it was better than freezing to death in that tundra back there. Even though she had her wand, it would still be difficult, if not impossible, to survive that.

Thankfully, some kind otter had offered her a piece of cardboard, and a blanket to keep her warm. It was the little things that truly made the biggest differences, Hermione knew. It was one of the things her parents had ingrained into her head at a young age: always offer to those who are most in need, and fortunately for her, it seemed that others had been taught that as well, in this strange world.

Another thing her parents had taught her was that whenever she was alone, and didn't know where to go, she should always head to a police station of some sorts. And so she began asking away. Anyone who passed by, she kept asking the same question: Where was the nearest police station? Many of the people she passed in the streets either ignored her, or didn't seem to know.

Unfazed by her bad luck, Hermione continued to search for someone, anyone, who could tell her the way. She glanced across to the other side of the street and spotted a bunny who looked remarkably similar to herself, sans the eye and fur colour.

 _Maybe she'd be able to help,_ Hermione thought, hopefully. _Maybe the others ignored me because of my new species._

She bounded across the road, checking for oncoming traffic as she did so. She hopped onto the sidewalk with little to no trouble, jumped up using the legs she still wasn't fully used to, and tapped the older bunny on the shoulder. The bunny twisted her head, and saw Hermione as she landed, somewhat unstably, on the tarmac.

"Excuse me, miss?" said Hermione, taking great care to remember her manners. "Do you know where the police station is?"

The bunny's violet eyes widened in surprise, before a glint of excitement appeared in the corner of her eye.

* * *

Judy's day had started in a rather unspectacular fashion. First, she had been yelled at by her irritating new neighbours, Bucky and Pronk, after she failed to turn her alarm off in time. Then, she nearly got run over by a speeding porcupine, who drove too fast even for Judy to catch him. And finally, her ears had gotten stuck in the closing doors of the train she took to Savannah Central.

And yet, despite these mishaps, Judy kept a somewhat cheerful smile on her face. She knew that once she got to the precinct, she'd most likely be forced to do parking duty again, but at this point in time, anything would be a welcome distraction. She still seethed with barely contained rage about that hustle she'd unwittingly been a part of yesterday, and hoped that handing out tickets would keep her mind off of things.

However, all those thoughts ceased to exist when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a little brown-furred doe standing behind her, the bunny's clothes looking slightly ruffled and dirty, as if she'd slept on the ground, which judging by her pained expression and hunched back, she had. Almost instantly, Judy felt sympathy for the young doe.

"Excuse me, miss?" the doe said. "Do you know where the police station is?"

Judy knelt down to the point where she was almost eye level to the doe, and replied with, "Yes, little lady. I do."

"In fact, I happen to be a police officer." she finished, showing the doe her badge, as she looked around for the doe's parents. "Where are your parents?"

* * *

"I... haven't seen them in almost a year." Hermione said, deciding to stick to half-truths. "And I don't know where I am now."

* * *

Whatever Judy had been expecting, it wasn't this. The poor kit hadn't seen her parents for a year? What had happened? Had they died, or had she gotten lost somehow? Or, even worse, had her parents abandoned her? For all Judy knew, this kit could've been sleeping on the streets for ages, waiting for parents who would never return.

The kit's innocence pulled at Judy's heartstrings. If this kit had been sleeping on the streets, on her own, then Judy couldn't just leave her there to slowly starve or freeze to death. She had to do something and, as she quickly realised, make the world a better place for the kit.

"Tell you what, why don't you stay with me for a little bit, okay?" Judy suggested, the kit's smile of hope raising her spirits to unknown heights. "At least until we can find your parents."

"Really?"

"Really."

Judy's heart practically beat out of her chest as she saw the little doe's smile stretch even further, her buck teeth just barely noticeable over her bottom lip.

"C'mon, follow me." Judy said in her most endearing voice. "So what's your name?"

"Uh, Hermione." the doe replied. "Hermione Granger."

"Hermione?" Judy repeated. "That's a pretty name."

"Thanks."

* * *

They soon arrived at the precinct, and were greeted by a cheerful Clawhauser, who saw the two bunnies walking in together, and squealed.

"Aw, you two look so cute!" he announced.

"Clawhauser, what did we say?" Judy reminded him. He looked at Judy for a second, before he realised his mistake. He clasped his hands over his mouth, and gasped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." he apologised. "Me and my big mouth."

"It's okay." she accepted. "Do you mind if you watch Hermione here for a couple minutes? I have to go to the bullpen."

"Oh, sure, go ahead." Clawhauser said, shooing her away before turning to Hermione, beaming.

* * *

 _1 and a Half Hours Later_

Judy squealed as she ran from the Chief's office down to the ground floor. She had finally gotten a case, an actual case. However she first needed to research about the missing mammal, and for that she needed...

"CLAWHAUSER! Eee!" she squealed, as she screeched to a halt in front of the cheetah's desk. The poor cheetah was so surprised, he jumped and ended up dropping his doughnut.

"I got a case." she informed him.

"Nice," he replied, dropping his voice to a whisper as he leaned towards her. "A case of what?"

"No! A _case_ case." she clarified excitedly.

"Oh! Heh, heh." he laughed, seeing his mistake. "Good for you."

"Think I can borrow a desk?" Judy asked hopefully.

"Uuuhhhh..." Clawhauser thought for a moment. "Ooh, take Bob's. He's out on paid migration." he finished, pointing towards the office.

"Great. Thanks."

She zoomed off to the desk, leaving Clawhauser with an out-of-breath Hermione, having just run there, clearly after Judy.

"Geez, she's... fast..." Hermione complained, nursing the stitch that threatened to arrive.

Meanwhile, Judy glanced up at the elephant-sized desk and chair that stood before her, viewing it as a challenge to overcome. She lunged upwards, barely catching onto the bottom of the seat, and pulled herself up, using the height adjuster to lift her up higher.

Climbing on top of the colossal desk, she hopped atop the keyboard and began jumping from letter to letter, searching for Emmitt Otterton's case file. She found it, and, using the greatly oversized mouse pad, clicked on it.

She was disheartened to find no leads on the missing otter's location, but continued searching nonetheless. After a good minute, she uncovered a video file, obviously taken from a security camera that showed the otter's last known sighting.

Stretching her arms to their maximum length, she enlarged the video, noticing that the otter was carrying a popsicle of sorts. A bad feeling began to run through her veins, as she rewound the video back.

To her dismay, she saw the unwelcome image of Nick Wilde handing a Pawpsicle to Mr Otterton.

Judy groaned, her ears drooping in disappointment.

"Oh, nooo! Not _that_ fox."

* * *

 _Sahara Square_

"Well, I'd say that was a pretty successful hustle." Nick noted, counting the day's earnings.

"A little magic goes a long way." Harry agreed, and as if to emphasise his point, he flipped a coin into the air, caught it and made it disappear. And for effect, he placed his aviators over his eyes for the "cool" factor as he called it.

"Alright, Mousini, you can lay off the theatrics." Jake snarked, looking up from a phone that looked remarkably similar to Nick's.

"Oh, give me that." Nick chided, snatching the phone away. "Honestly, what would it take for you to leave my stuff alone for five minutes?"

"How 'bout a dollar a minute?" Jake suggested, grinning like a Cheshire cat, as he leant back on the wall behind him.

"Oh no." Nick flat-out denied. "I don't trust you with money as far as I can throw you."

"Too bad." Jake countered, pulling a phone out from his pocket. "I guess you don't like this phone, do ya?"

Nick's attitude changed from slightly annoyed to downright murderous in two seconds. He patted his pockets, finding them to be empty as he thought.

"Fine. Five dollars worth of sweets that Harry will buy." Nick compromised through gritted teeth, plucking his phone from Jake's grasp.

"Deal."

Nick handed Harry a five dollar note, and whispered, "Make him suffer."

Harry smirked as he crossed the road and entered the sweet shop known only as Sweet Fang, "for all a mammal's sweet needs".

"Five minutes starts now," Jake noted, making sure Nick heard it. He smiled when he heard the sound of Nick growling.

* * *

Judy rounded the corner in her meter maid mobile, searching for that cursed fox. Oh, she was going to bring him down, that's for sure. Hermione tagged along, riding in the back where the traffic cones would've usually been placed.

As luck would have it, Judy spotted the fox's trademark green Pawaiian shirt halfway down the street. It appeared Nick was hanging out with that younger fox, Jake (if she remembered correctly), and the two appeared to be bantering with each other.

"Hey, Hermione, why don't you go inside that sweet shop over there?" Judy suggested politely. "This may not go as planned."

"Yes, Officer Hopps."

"Just call me Judy, dear." she replied, flashing an endearing smile at the young doe.

Hermione hopped off the back of the vehicle and headed inside, whilst Judy prepared herself for what would come next.

* * *

 _Inside Sweet Fang_

Hermione had never seen so many sweets and chocolates in one room before. She was simply astounded at all the different flavours and textures that they appeared to offer. The walls were lined with a great many shelves, which were each covered in a range of nougats, fudges and even the occasionally lollipop.

She was so focused on looking around the shop that she failed to notice that she was walking straight into someone, until it was too late. The fox who she bumped into accidentally dropped his sunglasses onto the floor, and from his momentum, stood on them with a loud CRUNCH.

"Aww, man." the fox exclaimed. "I liked those glasses."

"Sorry, it was an accident." she apologised, expecting the fox to explode like people normally did when something of theirs got broken.

"Ah, it's alright." he assured, waving his hand (or was it paw?) at her. "Just have to get new ones, I guess."

They both bent down to pick up the pieces, and Hermione, feeling guilty, pulled out her wand, not thinking about what she was doing until later.

"Here, let me." she insisted, waving her wand. "Oculus Reparo."

The glasses repaired itself almost instantaneously, with the rims joining back together and the cracks in the glass disappearing. The fox's eyes widened, and he looked at Hermione in shock, making her realise that she'd just performed magic in front of someone who was unaware of its existence.

"Well, whaddya know?" the fox smirked. "You learn something new everyday."

This time, it was Hermione's turn to be shocked, as the glasses levitated off the floor, and into the fox's outstretched hand, as if he were expecting it. Her mouth fell open, as she looked up into the fox's face, and into his emerald green eyes that seemed to glint with mischief under his lightning-shaped tuft of white fur.

 _Wait a minute,_ Hermione thought. _Lightning shaped? Is he...?_

"Harry Wilde." the fox introduced, holding out his paw.

Pulled out of her thoughts, she shook his paw and replied, "Hermione Granger."

* * *

Meanwhile as this was happening inside, Jake and Nick were quarreling about how long it was taking Harry.

"2 minutes left." Jake announced, looking at his watch.

Nick turned to him in annoyance. "Oh, would you shut up about that?! Honestly."

"Fine." Jake agreed, scanning the street in front of him for ideas. He spotted a familiar-looking figure closing in on them fast, and after a little squinting, realised who it was.

"Hey, remember that bunny cop from yesterday?"

"Yeah." Nick asserted, confused. "Why?"

"Well, here's your chance to apologise." Jake answered, tilting his head in the general direction of the bunny.

Nick spun around on the balls of his feet, and finally noticed Judy coming towards him in a bunny-sized vehicle.

"Hi! Hello, it's me again." she called out, trying to keep her anger at bay.

"Hey, it's Officer Toot-Toot." Nick replied, smiling. "Let me be the first to..."

"Actually, it's Officer Hopps," she interrupted, not hearing his attempt at an apology. "And I'm here to ask you some questions about a case."

Nick became discouraged with trying to say sorry, and began to walk away from her, towards Sweet Fang. She hadn't even let him speak before cutting him off, so why should he listen to her?

"What's the matter, meter maid? Someone steal a traffic cone?" he joked in an effort to hide his disappointment. "It wasn't me."

Behind him, Jake placed him paw over his eyes, shaking his head slowly at Nick's reaction.

 _Why can't he just apologise and get it over with?,_ he thought. _It's just two words: I'm sorry. Not that hard._

A siren sounded from Judy's vehicle, and she swerved in front of Nick, looking annoyed.

"Hey, Carrots, c'mon I've gotta be somewhere." Nick complained.

"This is important, sir." Judy replied, getting out of the car with a file and carrot-shaped pen in hand. "I think your _ten_ dollars worth of popsicles can wait."

Unbeknownst to Nick, she discretely hit the record button on her pen, waiting for him to take the bait.

"I make 200 bucks a day, Fluff." Nick responded, slightly insulted as he leaned against a street pole. "Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, since I was _twelve_. And, as they say, time is money. Hop along."

Judy almost had to pinch herself to keep her from smiling as she switched off the recording.

"Please just look at the picture." she pleaded, showing him a close-up of Mr Otterton. "You sold Mr Otterton that pawpsicle. Do you know him?"

"I know everybody." Nick replied, starting to get very irritated. "And I also know that somewhere, some toy shop is missing its' stuffed animal, so why don't you get back to your box?"

Judy's smile dropped, feeling rather offended. Oh, now that fox was gonna get it.

"Fine," she ceded. "Then we'll have to do this the hard way."

Nick felt a cold metallic chill brush against his fur, followed by a small _clink_ of metal on metal. He looked down to see that the bunny had handcuffed him to the pole. He heard a distinct snicker come from Jake's mouth behind him, and he promised himself that he would get that kit even if it was the last thing he did.

"Karma, to the finest degree." Jake laughed, holding his stomach.

Oh, yeah, that fox was dead once Nick got his hands on him. As it was, Nick looked back at the bunny in annoyance.

"You... just handcuffed me... to a pole." Nick deadpanned, flabbergasted at how quick the bunny had moved.

"Nicholas Wilde, you are under arrest." she announced, raising her voice ever so slightly.

"For what? Hurting your feelings." Nick asked.

"Felony tax evasion." she answered, smiling a little at finally getting the upper hand.

Jake howled with laughter, now realising what Judy had done. Oh, he was going to remember this for a long, _long_ time.

"200 dollars a day, 365 days a year, since you were twelve," Judy continued, noting it down on a piece of paper. "That's about 2 decades, so times twenty, which is one million, four hundred and sixty thousand, I think."

"I mean, I am just a dumb bunny," she laughed. "But we are good at multiplying. Anyway, you reported..."

She gasped for effect.

" _Zero_ , on your tax forms." she looked up at Nick's dumbstruck face. "Unfortunately, lying on a federal form is a punishable offense. Five years jail time."

Nick ignored the howls of glee that issued from Jake's mouth, and said, "It's my word against yours, Carrots."

She smiled, hoping he would say that, as she rewound the recording to his confession.

"200 bucks a day, Fluff. 365 days a year, since I was _twelve_." the recording regurgitated.

"Actually, it's your word against yours." she corrected, pressing stop on the pen. "And if you want this pen, you're going to help me find this poor, missing otter or the only place you'll be selling Pawpsicles is the _prison_ cafeteria."

She smirked, knowing she had him cornered, and to put the cherry on top, repeated the exact words he'd said to her yesterday, "It's called a hustle, sweetheart."

If possible, Jake howled louder, falling off his seat in enjoyment of this.

"She hustled you!" he hooted. "She hustled you GOOD!"

He pushed himself off the ground, and continued, "Have fun working with the fuzz, Nick."

"And where do you think you're going?" Judy questioned, her smile getting slightly larger.

Jake twisted his head, a cocky smile plastered on his face. "You ain't got nothing on me, bunny. I've done nothing wrong." He walked away with a slight saunter in his step.

"Not even 157 counts of petty theft?"

He skidded to a halt, hoping that she hadn't said what he thought he heard.

"And that's just the ones I know about."

Well, that hope just flew out the window. Jake spun around to look at the rabbit, noticing Nick staring at him, his eyes wide open, mouthing _157?_

"Should I list them?" she asked. "March 15th, a wallet from a male goat in the Meadowlands."

He remembered that one, the goat hadn't even noticed.

"April 10th, two phones from the store." she looked up from her file. "I have to admit, that one was creative. Pretending to trip, and as you fall, you grab the phones." She sighed.

"Quite inspired, though I have no idea how you got them unattached." Judy finished, closing the file. "Do I need to go on?"

"Alright, you got me." he yielded. "What do you want?"

She smirked once again, enjoying the delight she felt in holding their future in her grasp. Revenge, indeed, was a dish best served cold.

"I want you two to start talking."

* * *

"Well, I better get going." Harry told Hermione. "My dad's probably waiting for me."

"I should go too." Hermione replied, wishing that they could talk more. "It was really nice meeting you."

"Same here." Harry agreed, opening the door. "It's not every day I meet a bunny as interesting as you."

"Likewise."

They both stepped out onto the sidewalk, and within seconds, Harry stopped dead in his tracks, glowering across at the other side of the street.

 _Of course,_ he snarked internally. _I'm gone ten minutes, and they're being arrested by..._

He squinted, wondering if he seeing things.

 _Is that the bunny from yesterday?_

"What is it?" Hermione queried, following Harry's gaze to the scene that was unfolding before them.

"Oh, nothing." he replied. "Just my dad getting arrested, that's all."

"That's your dad?"

Harry replied with a mere nod.

"I wonder why Judy's arresting him." she speculated aloud.

Harry's eyes widened as he turned to Hermione. "You know her?"

"Yeah," she said. "She found me on the street this morning, and offered to take me in."

Harry averted his gaze back to the situation across the road. "Well, this just got more interesting." he muttered under his breath.

* * *

"I don't know where he is," Nick conceded to Judy. "I only saw he went."

"Great, let's go." Judy replied in an upbeat voice. She looked across the street, and seeing Hermione on the other side, motioned at her to come.

"Yeah... about that."

He held up his hand, which was still cuffed to the street pole.

"It's just a little twist, Nick." Jake supplied, grabbing the cuff around the pole, and twisting it. The cuff fell off the pole, freeing Nick's arm.

Nick, however, was far from happy.

"You couldn't have done that a bit sooner?"

"Let's not dwell on the past, shall we?" he said, hurriedly jumping into the small seat next to Judy.

Nick grumbled as he, grudgingly sat in the back. "Could we just wait for Harry?" he asked Judy. "He should be along in a bit."

It was at this moment that Harry and Hermione crossed the street, with Harry staring pointedly at Nick.

"Should I even ask?" said Harry.

"Don't." Nick stated, without even looking. "Just get in."

Judy drove off, the already-slow car now going even slightly slower due to the extra weight of the three foxes. As they rounded the corner, Jake turned to Nick and smiled, albeit sadly.

"Five minutes are up, Nick." he said, as he pulled out Nick's phone.

"GRRR!"

* * *

 _SUGGESTIONS TIME: As we can all probably guess, Dumbledore and others from Harry's reality will come into Zootopia. And as we all know, they won't be human when they come through. So I ask if you could name the people who you want to come through to Zootopia, and please supply your idea for each of their species. I already have a few ideas, but I wanted everyone else to have a say._

 _Put it in the review, and I'll PM those who I believe have the best ideas._

 **Author Note: Well, look at that, turns out this chapter is longer than the last. Just over 4,500 words, and this time, most of that was the actual story.**

 **As you can probably tell, I'm not going to abandon this story, so review, review, review! It really encourages me, as it shows that lots of people are actually reading my story, and I'll provide more and more content every week the more you review.**


	6. The Idea

**Author Note: Finally reached over 2000 views. Woohoo! Thanks again to those who've reviewed, and I thank each and every one of you for your suggestions. This is the sort of reaction an aspiring author enjoys from his readers, and I wouldn't have it any other way.**

 **I'd like to personally thank surviversp, Sakura Lisel and Camoss for giving me some of the best ideas/reasons behind who should be what species. Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it. And also, I'd like to acknowledge Kylevalheru's efforts in helping me make this story better with his consistent notifications of mistakes I've made. Cheers, man, couldn't do it without you.**

 **And so, to business.**

* * *

 _"For good ideas and true innovation, you need human interaction, conflict, argument, debate."  
-_Margaret Hefferman

* * *

Chapter 6  
The Idea

"Mystic Spring Oasis?" Judy read, looking at the building they had parked in front of. "Is this some sort of resort, or something?"

"Something like that." Nick smirked.

Jake began to look a bit uncomfortable, knowing what awaited Judy inside.

"I think, uh, what's your name?" he asked the brown bunny beside him.

"Hermione."

"Yeah, I think Hermione, Harry and I will just wait here." Jake finished quickly. "If that's okay with you?"

"Fine by me." Nick replied, holding the door open for Judy, his lips curling into an evil smile. "After you, Carrots."

They entered, leaving the three kits waiting outside. Jake turned to Harry, looking rather sick.

"Okay, Nick has just escalated to new levels of being a prick." he deadpanned, the skin under his fur going almost as grey as Judy.

"Why? What's in there?" Hermione asked, curious as to where Judy had just walked into.

"Let's just say, a whole bunch of mammals exactly as nature made them." he gulped, wishing he didn't have to explain it.

Harry's eyes widened in comprehension.

"You mean...?"

"Yep." Jake replied, glancing at the door. "I actually feel sorry for that bunny."

Harry began to feel a bit queasy himself, but then confusion set in. Exactly how did Jake know about this?

"Am I better off not knowing how you know this?"

"Let's just say to never jump over a fence to get away from someone, unless you know what's on the other side." Jake recounted, as he pulled out Nick's phone and began tinkering with it, taking out parts and putting them back in again.

From within the building, the three heard a shrill voice pierce through the walls.

"OHHHH, you are naked!"

"I believe Officer Hopps just found out." Harry noted.

* * *

"Oh, for sure, we're a naturalist club." the yak called Yax chuckled.

Judy was _extremely_ disturbed by this fact, and yet Nick was enjoying her discomfort immensely, even going so far as to rub her own words back in her face.

"In Zootopia, anyone can be anything. These guys, they be naked."

He knew this was nasty, but hey, she asked where the otter went, not to _warn_ her about where he went. Nick may have been cooperating with her, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun with her where he could.

"Nangi's just on the other side of the pleasure pool." Yax continued, oblivious to the mocking that was going on behind him.

The double doors opened to their fullest extending, revealing all the naked mammals behind it in all their glory. Nick was pleased to see Judy's eyes widen, her jaw dropping in horror, as she looked at the scene before her.

"Does this make you feel uncomfortable?" Nick asked, spotting a way to get out of this mess. "Because if it does, there's no shame in calling it quits."

Judy looked at Nick, and seeing his smile, became even more determined to solve the case.

"Yes, there is." She walked in, her determination showing through her focused eyes. Nick looked on in annoyance and a bit of admiration.

"Boy, that's the spirit." he said sarcastically, trudging in after her.

Yax continued to go on and on about the naturalist life, but neither mammal paid any attention. Judy tried to keep her mind off the many nude animals that she passed by and Nick was cursing his luck, wondering once again how he'd gotten into this mess.

Finally, they stopped in front of an Indian elephant, who Yax said would remember everything. In a rather ironic twist of fate, she remembered absolutely nothing. To the pair's great surprise, the yak appeared to be the better informant, even giving them the license plate of the car Mr Otterton had left in. The two left in a rather good mood, Judy because she had a lead, and Nick because he believed himself to finally be free of her grasp.

"Well, you're welcome for the clue." Nick said, happily. "And since any moron can run a plate, I'll take that pen and bid you adieu."

At that moment, Judy remembered one teensy little fact that she had forgotten. She still had Ni more resources than a trainee at the academy.

"I can't run a plate. I'm not in the system yet."

Nick's eyes widened, quickly realising his time was running out. "Give me the pen, please." he pleaded frantically.

"What did you say?" Judy asked innocently, smiling slyly. "Was it 'any moron can run a plate'?"

She put her paws in her hips, and sighed mockingly. "Gosh, if only there were a moron around who was up for the job."

"You can't keep us on the hook forever, rabbit." Nick snarled.

"But forever." she replied in a singsong voice. "I only have 36 hours left to solve this case. So can you run the plate or not?"

Nick glared at her, and then grinned. "Actually, I just remembered I have a pal at the DMV. He could help you find your plate."

"Then let's go." she said cheerfully, walking toward the car with Nick soon following behind.

* * *

As they approached the car, they were greeted with a rather amusing sight. Jake appeared to have found something rather exciting, and he was jumping around like he was on steroids. No matter how much he tried not to act like it, he was still a little kit deep down, and would occasionally show it.

"Hey, Nick!" he called out, bounding across the car park. "Look what I found under the front seat."

Nick felt a small weight press against his chest, and looked down to see a _Junior Detective_ sticker attached to his green Pawaiian shirt. He glared at Jake in a way that would wilt flowers within seconds, but it didn't seem to faze Jake, who had already taken a photo with Nick's own phone.

"Ah, that's definitely going on Furbook. Hashtag Tax Evader."

"First off, give me back my phone." Nick said, snatching his phone away from Jake, noticing it felt slightly lighter than he remembered. "And second, what the hell was that for?"

Jake shrugged. "Well, if we're gonna be helping the copper, might as well look the part."

He pointed to the identical sticker attached to his jacket. Despite herself, Judy could not help but snicker at Jake's antics. Honestly, he was like a little comedian sometimes.

Nick sighed, ignoring what Jake had just said, and decided to press on with the more important matter: his phone.

"Oh, great. Now why is my phone lighter?!"

Jake rolled his eyes. "I just gave you infinite calls and texts, you could be a little more grateful, Nick."

"I'm sorry, what?" Nick questioned in disbelief, not sure if he heard right. "How...?"

Jake looked at Nick in irritation.

"I can actually _feel_ the disbelief rolling off you, Nick." he informed him. "I may be klepto, but I'm not an idiot."

"And it's simple." Jake boasted. "You just fiddle around with the SIM card, get access to your phone's provider via Wi-Fi, a little hacking, and you're done."

Judy's ears perked up. She might not like it, but she just had a magnificent idea. She may be encouraging a small crime, but all in all it was for the welfare of an otter.

"Hacking?" she repeated.

"Yeah," Jake replied. "So long as you understand the source code, you can get into almost anywhere. Traffic cameras, registration sites, bank accounts, anything."

"Like car registration?" Judy probed.

Jake hesitated. "With the right device, yes. I wouldn't be able to do it on a phone, because it requires a lot more power and memory than any current phone can provide."

"Why?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"Think about it, Harry." Jake remarked. "There's gotta be hundreds of millions of different car registrations in the world. It takes even a computer about an hour to search through each combination."

"But you can do it?" Judy asked hopefully.

"Of course." Jake replied. "I can get into anything except traffic cameras, and only because you need to have access to a computer in either the ZPD or City Hall to see those. And as you can tell, I'm pretty much unwelcome there."

"Great." Judy replied. "What do you need?"

"Hang on," Nick butted in. "What about the DMV?"

"The DMV?" Harry asked in confusion. "That place run entirely by sloths?"

Nick's eyes widened as his plan fell to pieces before him. Judy turned to him, looking almost murderous.

"Sloths?" she uttered. "You were gonna waste an entire day on purpose?"

Nick looked a little flustered. "Well, I..."

"Save it." Judy said, turning back to Jake. "Like I said, what do you need?"

"Just a computer." Jake answered. "I've got a plan to get one, but you probably won't like it."

* * *

"You're right." Judy conceded. "I definitely don't like this."

They were standing in front of a computer store, and in Jake's hand, he held a credit card with a couple thousand dollars in it, all illegally hacked onto it via trickling funds from a forestry company into Nick's bank account.

"Don't worry," Jake consoled. "These guys have surpluses of around 20 million a year, they won't miss it. Besides, they kinda deserve it for what they do."

Doing his best Furminator impression, he twisted his head and said, "I'll be back."

He sauntered into the store, and began examining the computers. Nick put done headphones over his ears, whilst Judy looked at her phone, preparing for the wait. As they did this, Harry turned to Hermione in an effort to learn more about the bunny.

"So where are your parents?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

Hermione looked up, and nervously replied, "At home, probably."

At that moment, something just clicked in Harry's head. Something that made sense with everything he knew about Hermione already: that Judy found her on the street this very morning, that she could use magic with that stick of hers, and her almost constant nervous demeanour that suggested unfamiliarity.

"You're not from around here, are you?" he realised.

"From Zootopia? No." Hermione replied quickly, looking away.

"Not just Zootopia," Harry clarified. "But from here, this world."

Hermione's face morphed into one of fear.

"You're from the human world, aren't you?" he asked, putting the pieces together.

She turned back to Harry, looking at him in shock. She didn't think anyone here would've even heard of humans, let alone know about the human world.

"How do you know about that?" she whispered, fearing someone else would hear.

His suspicions confirmed, Harry decided to be honest with the doe.

"Because I'm from there too." he admitted, before chuckling. "I used to live in Surrey, on a little road called Privet Drive. Haven't thought about that place in a few years."

"Surrey?" Hermione repeated. "I lived in Epsom."

"British as well?" he said, receiving a small nod from Hermione. "Huh."

Summoning her Gryffindor courage, Hermione asked the question she had been dying to ask since she had met Harry.

"What was your name?" she said. "Before you came here?"

"You probably wouldn't have known me," Harry replied, giving her a kind smile. "I was a scrawny, little boy named Harry Potter."

 _I knew it,_ Hermione thought. _I thought I was wrong, but I was right._

"Quite a common name, isn't it?" Harry finished.

Hermione felt a bit awkward, now knowing what she knew. She decided to reply quickly, looking down as she did so.

"Yes." she muttered. "Common."

"Not like yours," he complimented, thinking back to the books he had once read during his escapes to the library with Caleb. "From Shakespeare, _Winter's Tale_ , if I remember correctly."

Hermione perked up at this, knowing Harry was correct.

"You know Shakespeare?" she inquired eagerly.

"Does a fish swim in the sea?" he countered, his smile growing greater. " _I think there is not in the world either malice or matter to alter it._ "

Hermione let out a small gasp. She knew that line from the very play her name came from, and it was still her favourite by far, even after all these years.

"That's my favourite line." she told him, looking into his green eyes and smiling.

"And it's my favourite play." he rebounded, gazing ever-so-slightly into her brown eyes.

For a moment, life finally seemed good for the two. Nothing could go wrong, in this small moment that two near-strangers shared. To many, this moment was insignificant, but to Harry and Hermione, it would be cherished forever.

For it was there, in that moment, that the two became friends...

And then that moment ended.

"I've got it!" Jake called from the shop, carrying a small laptop. "Let's go."

His intrusion as he jumped in the back shook the two out of their bliss, and they both looked away in mutual agreement. Their conversation had gone almost completely unnoticed by everyone, and they both wanted to keep their arrival from the human world a secret.

However, one mammal had heard the whole conversation, having been in front of them the whole time they were talking.

Judy's eyes widened in shock as she drove out of the parking lot, confused as to what she had just listened to.

* * *

"You sure you can do this?" Nick asked, hoping to get this whole debacle over and done with in the quickest time possible.

"How do you think we've stayed out of prison for so long?" Jake replied, concentrating on hacking into the mainframe.

Nick blinked once, twice, before he motioned to Judy in outrage.

"Oh, really?! I guess you just _forgot_ about my tax forms, and those security cameras that caught you, eh?"

"In my defense, your tax forms are on paper." Jake reasoned, as code flashed before his eyes. "And like I said, I can't access security cameras unless I've got a computer connected to City Hall or the ZPD."

Nick threw his paws up in defeat, and sunk to the floor, wondering what he did to deserve this.

"I'm in. What's the plate number?" Jake asked Judy.

"2-9-T-H-D-0-3."

"...H-D-0-3, got it." he repeated, hitting the enter key. Instantly, hundreds of lines of different combinations scrolled down the screen.

Jake turned to the four behind him.

"Get comfy," he suggested. "This'll take a while."

* * *

 _1 Hour Later_

"We got a hit!" yelled Jake, raising Judy from her stupor.

"Really?" she cried in relief. "Where is it?"

Jake hit a few keys and replied, "It's registered to a Tundra Town limo service."

"Tundra Town?" Judy repeated. "Alright, let's go."

Jake winced. "I don't suppose I have time to change into something warm, do I?" he asked, remembering his last visit there.

"Nope!" she grimaced in sympathy, already out the door.

"Crap." Jake cursed.

* * *

They arrived at the limo service to find the doors already chained and locked.

"Closed." said Judy, tugging on the lock. "Great."

"And only in the last half hour." Harry noted, looking at his watch.

"I betcha that you don't have a warrant, do you?" Nick asked mockingly.

"You can't really talk." Judy countered, still miffed at him for trying to get her to go to the DMV. "You even tried to waste the day on purpose."

Nick pretended to gasp. "Madam, I have a fake badge." He pointed to the sticker on his shirt. "I would never try and impede your pretend investigation."

"What's your problem?" she yelled, feeling rather upset. "Does seeing me fail somehow make you feel better about your sad, miserable life?"

"It does," Nick grinned. "One hundred percent."

"Now since you're sans warrant, I guess we're done?" he continued, motioning to himself and Jake.

"Fine, we're done." she sighed, handing Jake his file. "Here's the file, Jake."

Jake tossed it over his shoulder, and said, "Nah, I'm good. This was the most fun I've ever had."

She smiled weakly and pulled out the carrot pen, holding it out for Nick. He cockily went out to grab it, only for Judy to toss it over the fence. It landed with a small _poof_ in the snlw. Nick looked at the pen in annoyance, whilst Judy looked quite pleased with herself.

"First off, you throw like a bunny." he snarked. "Second, you're a very sore loser."

He began to climb over the fence, unaware of the fact that Judy was burrowing under it at the same time. A fact that Harry tried to make Nick aware of.

"Uh, Nick."

"See you later, Officer Fluff. So sad this is over. I wish I could've helped more."

He jumped over the last bit of fence, coming face to face with a smiling Judy.

"The thing is, you don't need a warrant if you have probable cause." she explained. "And I'm pretty sure I saw a shifty lowlife climbing the fence."

Nick straightened, frowning angrily, realising he'd been played again.

"So you're helping plenty." she said cheekily. "Come on."

As Nick turned his head, he heard a rather large _poof_ and the sound of someone laughing. He turned to see Jake lying in the snow, laughing like a hyena. Even Harry and Hermione were cracking smiles at Nick's misfortune.

"I'm liking her more and more by the second!" Jake howled.

* * *

The door to the limo they were looking for opened, a cold ominous mist pouring out of it. Nick, Jake and Judy hopped in, whilst Harry and Hermione stayed outside.

"We'll keep watch." Harry volunteered.

"Okay." Nick replied. "But be careful."

"I always am." Harry smirked, closing the door.

Judy began to scan the bottom of the car, looking for evidence. A glint of white fur near the brake caught her eye, and she picked it up with a pair of tweezers that she carried in her belt.

"Polar bear fur." she showed the two foxes.

Nick nodded, opening the glove compartment. He jumped back in what appeared to be horror.

"Oh, my god!"

"What?"

"The velvety pipes of Jerry Vole." he grinned, showing the CDs. "On CD, though. Who still uses CDs?" He tossed them back in.

Meanwhile, Jake pushed down the divider between the front and back. Genuine horror flashed across his face.

"Nick, get over here."

Nick looked over, and his expression changed to match Jake's. "Carrots, if your otter was here, he had a very bad day." Judy peeked in, and saw that the entirety of the back seat had been shredded by...

"Claw marks." She jumped in and turned to Nick. "You ever seen anything like this?"

"No." Nick said, looking around as he jumped in. Judy spotted a wallet lying in the centre of the floor. She picked it up to see Mr Otterton's license picture staring straight at her.

"He was definitely here." she said. "What do you think happened?"

Nick took a step forward and felt something cold touch his paw. He looked down, and picked up a glass with a fancy B imprinted on it. Jake saw this as he jumped in, and cursed, recognising the glass.

"Oh, shit."

"Polar bear fur, rat-pack music, fancy cup." Nick listed, becoming fearful with each word. "I know whose car this is. We gotta go!"

"Why? Whose car is it?"

"Mr Big's," Jake replied frantically. "He's the biggest crime boss in Tundra Town, and he doesn't like us, for good reason I might add, so I suggest we leave right now."

"I'm not leaving." Judy said stubbornly. "This is a crime scene."

"It's gonna be a bigger crime scene if Mr Big finds us here." Nick said as he pushed Judy towards the door. "So we gotta leave right now."

Jake opened the door, and was unceremoniously greeted by two large polar bears staring down at them. One of them had Harry and Hermione in one hand, holding them so that they couldn't make a sound.

"Raymond." Nick said, attempting to talk his way out of this. "And is that Kevin? Long time no see! And speaking of 'no see', how about you forget you saw us, okay? For old time's sake."

Like lightning, three arms shot out to grab the three by their necks.

"That's a no." Nick remarked, his voice muffled by Raymond's paw.

* * *

 _Meanwhile  
Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts_

Dumbledore sighed as he listened to his deputy headmistress complain about the behaviour among the students that he was ignoring. Honestly, the woman never gave it a rest with him. Although, he understood that he had definitely been neglecting his duties as headmaster for some time now, but Minerva just had to know that his work in finding Harry was much more important than some disobedient school children.

"...and if you don't deal with it soon, Albus, pretty soon these children will become like animals." she finished, breathing heavily.

An idea passed through Dumbledore's mind, something that he hadn't tried with his calculations yet. _Animals._

"Thank you for your concerns, Minerva." he said hurriedly, ushering her out. "I will make sure to see to it at my earliest convenience. I assure you that by this time next week, you will never see me neglecting my duties again. That I can promise you."

Minerva looked slightly affronted that she was being dismissed so callously.

"Professor..."

"Goodbye, Minerva." he interrupted, closing the door in her face.

Like a cheetah chasing its prey, Dumbledore sprinted for his desks and pulled out his calculations. He began entering in the variable of animals, and he found, to his delight, that his calculations worked perfectly. He had done it! After two years of non-stop working, he had done it.

 _Oh, Minerva,_ he thought. _Sometimes you really do outshine an old man like me._

Now all he had to do was get enough people to power it, and the boy would be back where he belonged.

* * *

 _* SUGGESTIONS TIME: There will come a time when the press conference occurs, and Nick and Judy have their inevitable fight. I'm not going to do it exactly how it was in the movie, so I want you guys to suggest a few things. How will it occur differently? How would it affect Harry, Hermione and Jake? How would Jake and Harry react? Would they side with Nick, or understand Judy's mistake?_

 _Write your suggestions in your review. Thanks._

 **Author Note: Definitely one of my longer chapters, but I have finally completed it. Write your reviews down below, and I'll update again as soon as I can. Thanks**

 **I'm sorry for removing the DMV scene, I know many of you love Flash and his "slothness", but honestly, whilst I found the scene to be funny in the movie, it was rather infuriating to write (and also I wanted a more original story than just following the movie). This also gave a way for Jake to actually help to get his crimes wiped away, and to show his mechanical/computer prowess that I hinted at a bit in previous chapters. Sorry if I ruined your life, but I promise I will make up for it.**


	7. Taken

**Author Note: Thanks to those who have reviewed chapter six already. As you can already tell by now, I am very grateful to have so much support for this story. It may have started as a challenge, but now I've actually gotten really involved in the story, and I've enjoyed every review, every "Awesome story" I've got.**

 **It hasn't all been ups, but everyone who's commented has given some good criticisms, such as Wolf Guard Miestwin from Poland, who noted that I had accidentally made Jake to appear like a Gary Stu. Apologies, but I have fixed that in this chapter, and I hope you find him better this time round.**

 **This story has finally got over 2,500 views. If you were a part of those views, yell Hallelujah.**

 ***Chorus of Hallelujahs* *Author falls out of chair in surprise***

 **Didn't think that'd actually work. Huh. But anyway, you're obviously here for one thing and one thing only, to read the next chapter in the story, so I won't keep you here any longer. Read on, my subjects!**

* * *

 _"In a kidnapping, you leave behind a lot of your baggage, like arrogance and stubbornness."  
-_Ingrid Betancourt

* * *

Chapter 7  
Taken

Nick, Hermione and Judy sat in silence between the two polar bears. The larger of the two, Kevin, held Harry and Jake firmly in his grasp, one in each hand. He knew what the two were capable of, and took the necessary precautions to prevent them from escaping again. Jake, with great effort on his part, twisted his head to face Kevin.

"Hey, Kevin," he whispered weakly. "Would you mind loosening your grip? I can't breathe, man."

In response, Kevin tightened his hold on Jake, the fox's eyes bulging.

"Great..." he rasped sarcastically. "Just what I wanted, for death to come for me quicker."

"You're not still angry about that, are you? It was a spur of the moment, I promise you."

Kevin growled in response.

Judy looked on at this interaction in confusion. Why would that polar bear keep a hold of them both, instead of placing the two down with the rest? Why did Harry and Jake get singled out like that?

She leaned closer to Nick, and quietly whispered, "What's so important about Harry and Jake to them?"

Nick continued to stare straight, as if he was face-to-face with the manifestation of death itself. His lips slowly parted and he began to whisper back.

"Let's just say that those two were responsible for our escape from Mr Big the first time." he explained, knowing that they were screwed now. "And they're trying to prevent that from happening again."

This raised quite a few questions for Judy. She knew how Harry could've contributed to the fox trio's escape, what with that ability of his, but what did Jake have to do with it? As she thought about this, Judy noticed the polar bear next to her, who she assumed was Raymond, flicking through the images on his phone. He stopped on a picture of him and Kevin smiling as they put a wolf in a headlock, and chuckled heartily.

Judy looked away, more than a little frightened, wondering.

"What did you guys do to make Mr Big mad at you?" she hissed quietly.

"We... may have sold him a very expensive wool rug," Nick gulped. "Made from the fur of a skunk...'s butt."

Judy glanced up at the nervous fox, and, upon seeing his dead serious face, slumped in defeat. "Oh, sweet cheese and crackers."

As the limo arrived at Mr Big's estate, Nick glanced out the window and the memories of the last time he had been here flooded into his mind. The day when Mr Big had warned him to never come back here.

* * *

 _June 20th, 2015_

Kevin and Raymond marched the fox trio into the room, and threw them before the shrew that was known as Mr Big. The three got up and brushed the dust off their knees.

"Well, that wasn't the best of welcomes." Nick joked, looking at the shrew. "You wanted to see us, Mr Big?"

"Yes, I did, Nicky." Mr Big replied, appearing to glare at each of the foxes, focusing on Nick the most. "I trusted you three. You were some of my best dealers, you know. You got more money off the streets than the rest of them combined."

"Shouldn't expect any less." Jake chuckled arrogantly.

"Silence." the shrew commanded, and Jake obeyed quickly, though his cocky smile never left his face.

"I gave you three well-paid jobs. I gave you protection. And how did you repay me?" he said, becoming angry. "With treachery and deceit. But above all else, you three disrespected me."

Instantly, the three became nervous and on their toes. They knew that Mr Big hated disrespect of any sort, to him or his family, it didn't matter. Anyone who showed a great deal of disrespect to him usually ended up dead.

Finally, Harry worked up the courage to speak.

"Sir, I'm sure this is all a simple misunderstanding." he chuckled nervously. "If we disrespected you in any way, I-I'm sure we didn't intend it. We'll try and stay vigilant to make sure it doesn't happen again."

The shrew turned to Harry, with a look of sheer malice.

"You didn't intend it?" Mr Big asked in disbelief. "I sent you three to obtain a shipment of the finest rugs in Zootopia for me. I was even prepared to pay you well for the best rug, and I trusted you to offer me the best."

The trio's eyes widened in understanding of what they were here for.

"But what should I find when I arrived home?" he questioned rhetorically. "That the rug you sold me, was merely made from the fur of a skunk's butt, doused in sweet-smelling perfume."

Harry and Nick turned their attention to the sheepish-looking Jake. He had been the one to suggest the perfume, but it appeared it hadn't paid off. Discretely, Harry slipped his hand into his pocket, getting ready to pull out the chain he'd brought in case of an emergency.

"We shrews have a rather _attuned_ sense of smell." Mr Big went on, angrily. "And you sold me the foulest-smelling rug you could. That was true disrespect, right there. It's continued to stink up my house ever since, only fueling my anger."

The shrew leaned forward, glowering at the foxes.

"You're fired." he stated simply. "Ice them!"

The polar bears reached to grab the three foxes. In the precious second that they had, Harry tossed one end of the chain to Nick, who grabbed hold of it as if it were his lifeline. Which in this case, it was.

"Now, Jake." Harry whispered.

In the blink of an eye, the three disappeared, only to reappear across the room, near the doors. Mr Big and the bears looked at them in shock, before the shrew quickly regained his composure.

"GET THEM!"

"Move!" Jake cried, forcing the doors open. They were greeted by Raymond and Kevin, who blocked the way out. In a spur of the moment, Jake kicked Kevin in the groin area as Harry launched Raymond into the air with his power. Seeing a way out through the window, Nick jumped through it, with the two younger foxes following soon after.

Outside, the trio ran for their lives, jumping over the fences and dodging the bears as they came. They had just gotten off the estate when they heard Mr Big's voice screech over the intercom.

"IF YOU THREE EVER SHOW YOUR FACES HERE AGAIN, YOU WILL BE SORRY!" the shrew yelled at the top of his lungs.

And as the three ran away, they believed him.

* * *

 _Present Day_

And yet here they stood before Mr Big again, with no chance of escape this time. He didn't appear to forgive them at all for the incident. In fact, he seemed more angry since he'd buried his grandmother in the rug since they'd last seen him. They were definitely not getting out of this one, and yet Judy was unknowingly making it worse, accusing him of kidnapping the otter she'd been searching for.

It was safe to say that Harry, Nick and Jake were terrified at this moment.

"I have only one request." the shrew said, smiling wickedly. "Say hello to Grandmama. Ice them!"

"I didn't see nothing." Nick said, his claws digging into the desk as the group were picked up. "I'm not saying nothing."

"And you never will." Mr Big replied nonchalantly, motioning for his henchmen to lower them into the ice cold water below them.

"If you're still upset about the rug, I've got more rugs!" he yelled, pleading as the water came ever closer.

Suddenly, a shrill voice was heard, and a young female shrew ran in wearing a white wedding dress.

"Daddy!" she called, grabbing Mr Big's paws. "Time for our dance!"

She looked up and saw the polar bears holding the five above the ice pit. She turned back to her father, looking rather upset.

"What did we say? No icing anyone at my wedding!"

"I have to, baby." Mr Big defended, speaking tenderly to his daughter. "Daddy has to. Ice them!"

Kevin and Raymond began to lower the five into the pit, even poor Hermione, who was scared out of her wits. Fortunately, the female shrew noticed Judy as one of the ones being held.

"Wait!" she screeched, and the bears listened to her. "She's the bunny that saved my life yesterday. From that giant doughnut."

"This bunny?" Mr Big clarified, pointing at Judy.

"Yeah!" she asserted, waving at Judy. "Hi."

"Hi," Judy said, looking down at her. "I love your dress." she complimented.

"Thank you." the shrew replied gratefully.

"Put them down." Mr Big ordered.

 _Thank God_ , the three foxes thought as the polar bears obeyed, even placing Harry and Jake down for the first time in a while.

"You have done me a great service." Mr Big thanked Judy. "I will help you find the otter. I shall take your kindness... and pay it forward."

Judy leaned forward, and Mr Big kissed her on both cheeks.

The three foxes watching this were absolutely dumbfounded, their jaws dropping in unison.

* * *

 _Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts_

Dumbledore put the finishing touches on the runic array that took up a great part of his office's floor. It was finally complete, and ready for use. He had already called in a few favours from old friends who would be going with him through the portal, just in case things took a turn for the worst, and they should be arriving in his office at any minute now.

As he thought this, bright green flames leaped from the human-sized fireplace he had near his desk. Out of the flames stepped old Nicolas, shaking the soot from his cloak as he did.

"Evening, Albus." he said curtly.

"Good evening, Nicolas." Dumbledore greeted. "I just finished the array, and you're a bit early, so we'll just have to wait."

"That's actually why I came here at this time, Albus." Nicolas said, getting down to business. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?" Dumbledore replied, acting respectfully to his former master.

"It's about the boy." Nicholas explained, sitting down. "I was wondering if, after we collect him of course, he could become my new apprentice."

"Oh?" Dumbledore questioned. "And why is that?"

"Well, there are only ever a few Reality Hoppers every generation," he continued. "And this boy is the first who's been born in Britain for a couple centuries. I was hoping that, with his high thaum count, I could teach him what I know, and maybe discover what it is that determines who becomes a Reality Hopper."

Dumbledore, ever the scholar, was intrigued. "That would be interesting to find out."

"So... do we have a deal?" Nicholas prodded, offering his hand.

Dumbledore thought about it for a minute, before finally deciding. "Yes, we have a deal."

They shook hands.

"Marvelous." Nicholas said, clapping his hands. "Well, all we need to do is wait for the others, and we're off."

"It looks like they're already here." Dumbledore noted, as his door opened and the fireplace burst into life again, with more and more fellow witches and wizards joining them.

As the last of them filed in, Dumbledore scanned the room, looking at everyone who had arrived. Just from a glance he could see Mr and Mrs Weasley, along with their sons Percival and Ronald, Minerva, Severus, Hagrid, Alastor and even the Minister for Magic himself had arrived, with a few Aurors in tow. Clearly Cornelius thought this was of high importance if he was willing to be here in person, even if it was with an excessive amount of backup.

"Good evening, everyone." Dumbledore announced, putting on his best political persona for everyone to see. "You may be wondering why we're here tonight, and for those of you who don't know, allow me to explain."

"It appears that 2 years ago, Harry Potter traveled to an alternate reality." he continued, raising his voice as people began to make noises of outrage at his claim. "I know it sounds crazy, but it is true. Nicolas here..." He pointed to him. "... figured this out based off a wide range of variables. And I have spent the last couple years trying to determine which reality he went to."

"Last night, I had a breakthrough." Dumbledore told them. "And I have made a runic array which, when powered by all of us here tonight, should create a door to this reality."

"Should?" a young Auror with purplish hair cried.

"It will, don't worry." Dumbledore countered, attempting to settle down the raucous that the woman was about to cause. "If you could all just stand at the edges of the array, we can get started."

Everyone backed away to the edge, and followed Dumbledore's lead.

"Point your wands to the runes, and pour as much magic into it as you can." he instructed, doing so himself. "Now."

They all copied Dumbledore, pouring every bit of magic they could into the runes. Slowly, but surely, the runes began to glow. Brighter and brighter they got until finally, a circular portal appeared in the centre of the array.

Sounds of astonishment rang throughout the office, and accomplishment filled Dumbledore's heart. So it was true, he hadn't wasted all those years for nothing. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the tracking device for Harry, and stepped in front of the crowd.

"This'll stay open until we cancel the runes." he explained. "Follow me."

And with that, he stepped through the portal and disappeared from sight. The rest of the room filed in, and one-by-one, met the same fate.

* * *

 _Sahara Square, Zootopia_

In an abandoned alleyway between two buildings, the portal came into existence, and out stepped Dumbledore. But it was not the Dumbledore as he knew himself, for he realised that he had been transformed into a peacock. Thankfully, he had prepared himself for this ever since his breakthrough and wasn't so surprised as he could've been.

The same could not be said for those that followed. A few screamed, a few looked at themselves in shock, and the few brave ones took this change in their stride, for they had seen worse (though it was quite literal for Alastor, whose fake eye had popped out of place, only to be replaced by a new one).

"Stay calm, everyone." said Dumbledore. "This is all normal."

"Normal?" said a chameleon, looking at him like he was crazy. "How is this normal?"

"Everyone in this world is an animal," he explained calmly. "Humans never evolved in this world, so we'll have to make do with these bodies for now."

"Great," a bat drawled in a similar way to Severus. "Not only do we have to find this brat, we're not even human."

"Save it, Severus." a small lemming squeaked. "Just let go of your grudge."

Ignoring the two's antics, Dumbledore looked at the device held firmly in his wings. For the first time in almost two years, the device actually worked, giving him the location of the boy.

"Hagrid and Alastor, could you guard the door back?" he asked, hoping that they would respond so he could tell who was who.

"Alright, Professor Dumbledore sir." replied a large grizzly bear he assumed was Hagrid.

"Alright, Albus." a hawk replied, looking him straight in the air. "Just so we're clear, I'm only doing this to get rid of that favour, alright?"

"Understood, Alastor." Dumbledore said, turning to the rest of them. "Alright, let's go find the boy."

* * *

 _Rainforest District_

They say that when you're in a near death experience, you start to see visions of your past. The people you've loved, the people you've lost, and the things you regret. For Nick, all of this was true. He saw flashes of his father the night he left, he saw flashes of when he found Harry bleeding on the sidewalk, and he saw his regret for not punching Jake in the face every time he deserved it.

But one of the biggest regrets Nick had was how he had been acting for the past twenty years. He had pushed away almost anyone who truly cared about the true Nick Wilde: those people being his mother, his brother, and lots of friends. Only those who believed in him the most (Harry), or were the most stubborn (Jake) ever stood by him, despite all his cynicism.

All this rushed through his head as the black jaguar, Manchas, chased them through the rainforest, intent on mauling them. Up ahead, Nick noticed a wooden bridge leading to...

"Head for the sky trams!" he called out to the group, putting an extra burst of speed into his run.

The five raced towards what they now considered to be their saviour. However, it seemed the jaguar had other ideas. He pounced at Harry, Hermione, Jake and Judy, forcing them to scatter. Jake ducked underneath Manchas, the jaguar missing him in his lunge by an inch.

Judy jumped, spinning on a lamp post in an attempt to escape, but the wet wood made her slip as she landed, and she skidded off the edge of the bridge, only grabbing on by the tips of her fingers.

Hermione wasn't so lucky. When Manchas leaped at her, she dived to the right, smashing into the rotting banisters that lined the bridge. They snapped under the force she hit them with, and she flew off the bridge, missing the edge with her fingers by a few centimetres. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact, but it never came. She felt a paw grasp around hers, and she looked up to see Harry lying on his front, his other paw firmly clenching the post to his left.

"I got you." he reassured, straining with all his might to hold her up.

Manchas turned his attention to Nick, who had made it to the sky tram, and was currently holding the door open for people who would never come. As he spotted Manchas, the tram left the bridge, leaving Nick stranded at the end. He froze, staring into the yellow eyes of the jaguar in front of him, hoping that it ended quickly.

A small stone hit Manchas on the head, thrown from behind. The jaguar turned, looking at the perpetrator, spotting Jake standing up.

"Hey! Over here!" he called, turning heel and running, hoping to lead Manchas away from the rest. However, he had seriously misjudged the jaguar's speed, as Manchas easily caught up to him and pinned him to the ground. Grabbing at a fallen branch frantically, Jake whacked the jaguar in the head, hitting the side with the injured eye.

The jaguar fell off Jake, and Jake ran, his heart pounding as he turned back to see the jaguar leaping towards him again. He fell backwards as the jaguar collided with him, and his chest began to feel warm as Manchas' claws ripped into his flesh. Jake did what any rational person would do in his situation: he screamed bloody murder.

"JAKE!" screamed Harry in horror, still keeping Hermione from falling to the ground below.

His scream alerted the jaguar to the other four, and he bounded towards them, leaving Jake's broken body behind, as he headed straight for Harry. In his fright, Harry made a rather stupid choice, and pitched himself off the bridge with Hermione in tow. As he fell to the floor below, he realised his stupidity, and tried to attempt something he'd never done before: teleport in mid-air.

Looking at the ground advancing with each passing second, Harry thought of appearing on the ground safely, hoped to all things holy that he could do it and teleported. He and Hermione landed rather roughly on the ground, with a few bruises and scrapes, but alive.

Back on the bridge, Nick looked as his adopted son jumped off the bridge in terror.

"HARRY!" he yelled, knowing that it was too late.

Manchas advanced slowly on Nick, as Judy pulled herself up. Nick didn't even have time to react as Manchas leaped to attack him, but he was fortunately saved by Judy, who had cuffed the jaguar's leg to a street pole just in time.

Nick edged his way around the jaguar on the floor. "I can tell you're a little tense, so I'm just gonna give you a little PERSONAL SPACE!" he yelled, as Manchas snarled and lunged at Nick.

Nick ran straight into Judy, accidentally pushing her off the bridge, with him along for the ride. Judy grabbed hold of a vine, and Nick's paw, and they swung underneath the bridge, holding on for dear life.

"Rabbit, whatever you do, don't let go!" he pleaded.

Judy spotted a vine cluster as she swung back. "I'm gonna let go!"

"No! You... what?!"

"One, two..." she counted down, letting go at the highest point of the swing.

"RABBIT!" Nick yelled, as the two flew off and landed in the vines. They looked up to see Manchas snarling and growling, unable to get to them on the bridge.

Nick looked at Judy in a whole new light. "Carrots, you saved my life." he said in astonishment.

"That's what we do at the ZPD..." Judy replied, the vines breaking under the two. They toppled to the floor, hitting gigantic leaves as they fell, until they began to drop face-first towards the tarmac below.

Fortunately, they were saved by some lucky vines that they got tangled in, which stopped them a few feet off the ground. Almost instantly, they heard police sirens and a whole cavalry of police cars screeched to a halt in front of them.

Chief Bogo stepped up to the two entangled mammals, looking down at them in annoyance.

"Well, this should be good."

* * *

After a tearful reunion between Nick and Harry (as well as Judy and Hermione), Judy led the ZPD up the long trek to the sky tram entrance, explaining the situation to Bogo, who looked at her in disbelief.

"This isn't the Stone Age, Hopps. Animals don't 'go savage'." he snarked.

"I thought so too," Judy replied, coming a halt behind a large leaf. "Until I saw this."

She pulled the leaf down... only to reveal that Manchas had disappeared from the bridge. As soon as the leaf was moved out of the way, Nick and Harry ran forward to where they left Jake, but what they found scared them even more than finding him.

He was not there.

* * *

 _* SUGGESTIONS TIME: Who wants Jake to survive? Who wants to see him die? Tell me in the comments below, and after a while, I'll decide who has the best argument for his survival OR death._

 **Author's Note: DUN DUN DUN! Jake has been severely injured by Manchas, and Dumbledore has finally arrived in Zootopia. What'll happen next? Find out in the next chapter. And as always, REVIEW!**


	8. Communication and Miscommunication

**Author Note: First off, I'd like to thank the many people who reviewed with their suggestions for Jake's fate. I won't tell you what happens (you'll have to read to find out), but the votes were 4-1, so the choice was a clear winner.**

 **To those who may find it odd that some of Dumbledore and Co. are reptiles & birds, and want to complain about it, I will remind you that this has been done a couple times by multiple authors and I would like it if you didn't criticise me too harshly. I have also provided a small explanation in the chapter which you will find if you read carefully.**

 **If you liked this story, please check out _A Ray of Hope_ , written by _Camoss_. It's a really great fanfiction which I think is quite underappreciated, and I would love it if you showed your support for my most avid reviewer by viewing his story, and maybe even reviewing it. Thanks.**

 **Another celebration is due, since I've finally got over 3900 views, in addition to the 44 favourites and 91 followers this story has got. Woohoo!**

 **But enough with my blabbering, let's get on with the story.**

* * *

 _"To effectively communicate, we must realise that we are all different in the way we perceive the world, and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others."  
-_Tony Robbins

* * *

Chapter 8  
Communication and Miscommunication

Harry fell to his knees on the muddy ground, staring at the empty spot in front of him. He was honestly in shock, and it appeared Nick was too. Despite his constant arguing with Jake, he had liked the boy, even if he was an annoyance at times. One question rattled around inside their heads: Where had he gone?

"He was right here." he heard Judy saying.

"The savage jaguar?" the buffalo replied in a disbelieving tone.

"I know what I saw!" Judy defended, as the two foxes turned around, concerned for what was happening. "He almost killed us, and actually injured another."

"Oh?" the buffalo said, mockingly. "And where is this injured mammal?"

She twisted her neck to look through the crowd of officers and spotted Harry. He shook his head sadly, and Judy's heart plummeted faster than she had fallen to the ground. Bogo saw this silent exchange, and sighed in irritation.

"Two days to find the otter, or you quit." he reminded Judy. "That was the deal."

He held out his hoof. "Badge."

"But sir, we-"

"BADGE!" he repeated, becoming angry.

Nick looked at the two officers in shock, now realising why Judy had a time limit on the case. He felt truly ashamed at his attempts at wasting time and trying to get her to drop the case. If he had known that she'd be forced to resign if she didn't solve the case, he wouldn't have tried to stop her at every turn, and maybe Jake, wherever he was, wouldn't have been severely injured. He even owed her his life, for crying out loud.

He saw Judy reluctantly begin to unclip her badge, and Nick knew he had to stop her. So he stepped forward, and spoke.

"No."

The buffalo cop looked at him with barely contained rage. "What did you say, fox?"

Swallowing his fear down, Nick looked into the eyes of the buffalo, and repeated himself. "I said nooooo. She will not be giving you that badge."

"You gave her, what, a clown vest, a three-wheeled joke mobile and two days to solve a case you guys haven't cracked in two _weeks_." Nick continued, feeling a little pride in the small shamew that filled the buffalo's face. "It's no wonder she had to get help from some foxes, and another bunny. None of you guys were gonna help her."

Bogo made a move to speak, but Nick silenced him with more words.

"Here's the thing, chief. You gave her 48 hours, so technically we still have..." he stopped, counting on his fingers. "...10 left to find Mr Ottertozn, and that's exactly what we're gonna do."

As Nick spoke, the gondola pulled up, and he walked up to it, motioning to Judy and the kits to follow.

"So if you'll excuse us, we have a very big lead to follow, and a case to crack. Good day." he finished, opening the door to the sky tram. Judy tried to say something to the chief, but thinking better of it, decided to follow Nick without a word uttered.

Nick, noticing there was only enough room for two in the sky tram, motioned to Harry to go in the next tram.

"Officer Hopps." Nick said, letting Judy in first before hopping in himself. The gondola departed from the bridge, leaving the ZPD watching them as they left, and the kits waiting for the next tram.

The tram pushed on, its headlamp lighting up the still dark rainforest. As they climbed higher, Judy felt extremely grateful for Nick's interference and was amazed that the fox had done such a thing.

"Thank you." she said, glancing up at the fox's face.

"Never let them see that they get to you." Nick stated sadly, peeking back at the rainforest below them.

"I'm sorry about Jake." she apologised sincerely, feeling a little miserable about the fate of the fox.

"It's alright." Nick replied, his voice cracking a bit. "I'm... I'm sure he got away."

"Hopefully." Judy said, more for Nick than for herself. She looked at the tram that followed behind them. "I wonder how Harry's taking it."

"Harry's a resilient kit, he'll bounce back eventually." Nick supplied, before a chuckle escaped his lips. "That kit, he reminds me of myself when I was his age."

Judy turned to Nick slowly. "In what way?"

Nick sighed in remembrance. "He never lets the bad things get to him too much. Always looking on the bright side, even if there isn't one."

"Huh, he sounds similar to me as well."

"Believe it or not," Nick continued, a smirk running across his face. "But we were small and emotionally unbalanced like you once."

"Har har," Judy replied sarcastically, smiling at his joke.

"No, it's true." Nick defended. "For me, I was eight... or maybe nine, and all I wanted to do was join the Junior Ranger Scouts..."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the tram behind them, Hermione glanced up at Harry's gloomy face in gratitude. He had been there when she had needed him the most, and had saved her from what would've been certain death, and for that she was most appreciative. She knew that Harry could've easily let go of her to save his friend, but he didn't, holding onto her paw until he was forced to do otherwise.

"Thanks for... you know." she said awkwardly, looking away as he sent a small smile her way.

"You're welcome, Hermione. I couldn't just let you fall." he replied, before his face morphed into one of sadness. Sadness over Jake, and what could've become of him.

As if Hermione could sense his sadness, she placed a paw on Harry's arm.

"It's not your fault, you know." she consoled earnestly. "You couldn't have done anything."

"Maybe, maybe not." Harry sighed. "Maybe in another situation, he wouldn't have gotten attacked. Or it could've been me instead of him."

"Listen!" she yelped with such conviction it surprised Harry. "You tried your best, and that's all that matters. You may want to save everyone, but sometimes you can't."

She calmed down and, under her breath, muttered, "Believe me, I know."

Harry's ears perked up, and he turned to Hermione, perplexed at what she had said. "What do you mean?"

Hermione's eyes widened. She didn't realise she had said that out loud. She looked up at Harry, finding him staring at her pointedly, as if asking her to continue. She sighed, and began to recount the worst moment of her life.

"I was about seven or eight, and I was being watched over by my older brother whilst my parents were out at work..." she said, her voice cracking a little as she remembered that day. "He brought me to the park because he wanted to teach me some soccer moves..."

* * *

 _June 21st, 1987  
Ashtead Park, Epsom_

"C'mon, Hermione, you can do it!" her brother encouraged, as he watching his little sister struggle to keep the ball off the ground.

She dropped the ball onto her foot, kicked it up and attempted to swing her leg around the ball, but she was unfortunately too late and landed flat on her face. Her brother snickered.

"It's not funny!" she protested, spitting out a mouthful of grass. This just made her brother laugh even harder.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, not really sounding sorry. "But to see my brainiac sister absolutely _fail_ when it comes to sports is bloody hilarious."

"I just need a little more practice."

Her brother looked at her, smirking. "No, what you need is a remote-control ball, motor skills and a magic genie that grants wishes to little girls who _suck_ at sports."

Hermione scowled at him, only prompting him further. "I can provide the remote-control ball, but the rest you have to get on your own."

"I don't know why I even bother with this." she complained. "I'm not gonna make the team anyway."

Her brother's expression softened, and he kneeled down next to Hermione, looking straight into her brown eyes.

"That type of thinking won't get you anywhere, Hermione." he sighed. "Remember anything is possible if you just separate what you know, from what you believe."

He offered her his hand, and she took it, being pulled off the ground in an instant.

"You may _believe_ you can't do it," he continued, handing her the ball. "But, if we both think in terms of physics, you can. Just apply what you _know_ to this, and your belief will help you see it through."

In her mind, Hermione thought about her brother's words, and followed them. She dropped the ball once, kicked it up and before she knew it, she was doing the trick as her brother had showed her. And behind her, he smiled in pride.

"Now that's what I'm talking about, Hermione!" he said, startling her. In her fright, she accidentally kicked the ball in the direction of the road.

"Don't worry! I'll get it." she volunteered, running after the ball with a smile on her face. She had finally done it, and nothing could persuade her to stop trying now.

She was so caught up in her glory, she didn't notice the truck driving towards her until it was too late. She felt a push from behind, heard a small squishing noise and smelled the grass in her nostrils as she tumbled to the ground. She twisted her head around, only to witness a sight that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

For on the tarmac lay the broken and mangled body of her brother, his hand extended towards her. For how long she lay there in shock, she did not know, but as tears began to sting her eyes, she looked down the street, to see the truck driving away, the driver blissfully unaware of what had happened.

* * *

 _Present Day_

"He... sacrificed himself to save me." Hermione finished, tears beginning to glisten in her brown fur. "I always thought it was my fault, that he had died because of me."

Harry put a consoling arm around Hermione, feeling great sympathy for the young bunny.

"I withdrew back into books after that, never trying sports again." she continued, grateful for the support Harry was giving her. "And, to cope with it, I had to keep telling myself that I couldn't have saved him even if I tried. He had made a choice to save me, and I wasn't going to let him die in vain by not moving on, and making his sacrifice worth it."

Silence hanged in the air around them, as Harry realised the folly in his thinking. He knew that Hermione was right, and that he shouldn't destroy himself over Jake's choice. He would still hold out hope for Jake's survival, but wouldn't lay all his hopes on it, just in case he didn't make it. Harry was glad that Hermione had shared such a personal story with him, but one question still ricocheted in his mind.

"What was his name?" he asked gingerly, not wanting to sound insensitive.

Hermione wiped a tear from her eye, and replied, "Nicholas, but we called him Nico."

* * *

Back in Nick and Judy's tram, a rather similar scene had played out, though it was the bunny comforting the fox instead of the other way around.

"If the world is only gonna see a fox as shifty, and untrustworthy, there's no point in being anything else." Nick finished, feeling Judy place her paw on his arm supportively.

Judy truly felt empathy for the fox beside her. She knew what it felt like to be discriminated against based on her species, but she had never considered that others like Nick could've been so affected by the prejudice.

"Nick, you are so much more than that." she said in a heartfelt manner.

Nick, not used to sympathy except from other foxes, instinctively pulled away carefully. But as Judy's paw was removed from his arm, he felt a slight loss of comfort and he, to cover it up, looked down at the traffic below.

"Boy, look at that traffic down there." he exclaimed, placing his finger to his temple in an impression of a reporter. "How 'bout we go up to Chuck in traffic central? Chuck, how're things looking on the jam-cams?"

Ignoring his antics, Judy sincerely said, "Nick, I'm glad you told me."

As if struck by divine thought, an idea popped into Nick's head. "The jam-cams..." he repeated, deep in contemplation.

"Seriously, it's okay..." Judy continued, unaware of where Nick's train of thought was heading.

"No, look!" Nick said excitedly, pointing. "There are traffic cameras everywhere, all over the canopy! Whatever happened to Jake and the jaguar..."

"The traffic cams would've caught it!" Judy finished, catching on.

"Bingo!"

"Oh ho, pretty sneaky, slick." Judy complimented, giving a friendly punch on Nick's arm.

"However, if you didn't have access to the system before, I doubt Chief Buffalo-Butt is gonna let you into it now." he reminded her.

"No.." she replied, feeling dejected for a moment. Then an idea flashed in her mind. "But I have a friend at City Hall who might."

* * *

 _Unknown Location_

Pain surged through his chest as he drifted into consciousness, his eyes fluttering open as he did. He could not recognise where he was, nor did he know how he had got there, but one thought took over his mind: he had to get out of there.

He attempted to push himself off the itchy bed he lay upon, but quickly collapsed as his arms gave way. Upon impact, he realised something else. He was having trouble breathing. Every time he took in a breath, he felt like someone was stabbing him again and again, with nothing capable of relieving his utter agony.

Despite this, he pushed on, crawling off the bed and onto the cold hard floor beneath. The collision knocked the wind out of him, forcing him to make a sharp intake of breath. His lungs burned, and his chest sent sharp, repetitive signals of pain to his brain. The pain was getting too much for him, and he could already feel himself slipping into unconsciousness.

With his last remaining strength, he called out with all might and screamed, "HELLLLPPPP!"

The last sounds he heard before darkness overtook him, was the rapid click-clacking of heels approaching him.

* * *

 _Rainforest District_

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Dumbledore cursed, looking at the device in his hand with frustration. "He's moved again!"

"What do you expect, Albus?" the disembodied drawl of Snape retorted. "He's the son of Potter, of course he'd move whenever we get close."

There was a rustle of leaves before another, more stern, voice entered the conversation. "Please keep your personal bias to a minimum, Severus. It's bad enough we have to trek through this jungle, without having to listen to your moaning."

"Quit it, you two." Dumbledore snapped. He was getting really annoyed with their arguing.

Another rustle. "May I ask why we have to be under Disillusionment Charms again?" the mothering voice of Mrs Weasley asked. "It'd be much easier if we could all see where everyone was."

The voice of Arthur Weasley answered, "Didn't you see the look those animals gave Albus and that trainee Auror? It was almost as if they'd never seen anyone like them before."

"They haven't." the voice of Flamel informed. "In this world, only mammals evolved enough to walk and talk. To them, birds and reptiles talking are about as strange to them as it is to us."

"Then how did some of us end up like that?" the young Auror known as Tonks questioned irritably.

"I'm actually not sure." Flamel replied, deep in thought. "Maybe our unique abilities carried over here. Didn't you say you were a Metamorphmagus?"

"I did."

"Well, there you have it." Flamel reasoned. "A chameleon changes it's skin colour to match the environment, which is a little similar to Metamorphmagi's power of shape-shifting, just rather limited."

A child-like voice grumbled, which everyone in the group recognised as belonging to a certain Ron Weasley.

"Enough with the lesson." he complained, his feet sore from the tramp. "Let's just get Potter and go. I'm hungry and I wanna eat soon."

The group as a collective groaned in annoyance. Oh, what they wouldn't do to toss the youngest Weasley boy off a cliff. It was just too bad they couldn't see him, otherwise a few would've attempted it.

"Let's go." Dumbledore said, sensing the murderous intentions towards the boy. "He shouldn't be too far away."

* * *

 _City Hall, Sahara Square_

"Uh, sir, if you could just review these very important..."

"I heard you, Bellwether, just take care of it!" the mayor roared, slamming another folder onto the already large pile the ewe was carrying. "And clear my afternoon, I'm going out."

The ewe ran after the lion as he entered his office.

"But sir, you have a meeting with Herds and Grazing. If I can just..." The door slammed shut in her face, causing her to drop the multitude of files and papers she had been carrying.

"Oh, mutton chops." she cursed weakly, picking up the folders.

It was at this moment that the two foxes and rabbits approached the tiny ewe, helping her with the folders. Bellwether looked up to see the gentle face of Judy Hopps looking at her.

"Assistant Mayor Bellwether," she said in a caring voice. "We need your help."

* * *

"We just need to get into the traffic cam database." she requested to the ewe currently sat at the computer.

As they waited, Nick snuck at a glance at the wool atop Bellwether's head. Out of curiosity, he touched it, and was surprised at how soft it felt. He gingerly grabbed a tuft, and began to feel it.

"Sooo fluffy." he whispered to Judy, notifying her of Nick's mischief.

"Hey!" she whispered loudly.

"Sheep never let me get this close." he defended happily, continuing to feel it.

"You can't just touch a sheep's wool!" Judy retorted, making exaggerated movements to make her point.

"It's like cotton candy." Nick laughed quietly.

"Stop it!" she demanded, swatting his hand away, before haphazardly setting the wool back into place.

"Where to?" Bellwether asked, looking up in apparent obliviousness to what had unfolded behind her.

"Uh, Rainforest District." she said awkwardly. "Vine and Tujunga." She glared at Nick, who grinned like the cat that ate the canary. Behind them, Harry and Hermione snickered at Nick's behaviour.

"There!" Bellwether exclaimed, showing them the screen. "Traffic cameras for the whole city."

"This is exciting." she continued with glee. "I never get to do anything this important."

"But you're the assistant mayor of Zootopia." Judy said in disbelief.

"I'm more of a glorified secretary." she replied. "I think Mayor Lionheart just wanted the sheep vote."

For a second, her expression seemed sad, and then she pointed happily to the mug on her desk. "But he did give me that nice mug." Behind her, Harry snuck a glance at the mug, and confusion settled in his mind.

 _Nice mug?_ he thought. _That's the sort of thing a person gets for his friend when he's forgotten about a birthday._

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that the ewe had left the room until he heard the heavy door slam behind her.

"Do you think when she goes to sleep, she counts herself?" Nick questioned cheekily.

"Oh shush." Judy replied, attempting to repress a smile as she climbed onto the seat. "Okay, Tujunga. And, we're in."

A recording replayed on the screen, showing the original five's attempts at escaping the jaguar. Harry and Nick looked away as they saw Jake being attacked, and finally the four disappeared off the screen as they both fell to the ground.

Almost instantaneously, a van appeared next to the bridge and two timber wolves hopped out, one of them armed with a weapon. The other kneeled down next to Jake's broken form, and fireman carried the fox into the van, before rejoining his partner.

"Who are these guys?" Judy asked.

"Uh, timber wolves." Nick scoffed. "Look at these dum-dums."

Suddenly, one of the wolves fired a weighted net at Manchas, trapping him against the ground. Judy gasped. The wolves picked the captive jaguar up and headed back to their van.

"Bet ya a nickel one of them's gonna howl." Nick stated.

"Sucker bet, and you know it, Nick." Harry replied, hoping that whoever these guys were that they didn't hurt Jake.

As if on cue, both wolves howled simultaneously.

"There it is." he said unsurprised. "I mean, what is it with wolves and the howling?"

"Well," Hermione spoke up nervously, remembering a chapter from an animal book she read once. "It's usually used to notify other wolves in the area of something, like to stay away or come closer, as their howls can travel for miles..."

Judy and Nick turned to the little bunny in surprise.

"Huh, you learn something new every day." said Nick.

"Wait a minute... howling..." Judy repeated, beginning to piece things together. "Nighthowlers! That's what Manchas was afraid of: the wolves. They're the Nighthowlers. And if they Manchas and Jake..."

"Then they probably took Otterton, too." Nick finished.

"All we gotta do is find out where they went." Judy said, following the van with the cameras. They entered the tunnel from the Rainforest District to Tundra Town, but they never exited at the other end. "Where'd they go?"

"You know, if I wanted to avoid surveillance because I was doing something illegal, which I never have..." he said as he took over the computer, causing Judy to smile a bit. "I would use maintenance tunnel 6B, which should put them right about... there."

He switched to a different camera, which showed the van exiting the tunnel. Judy looked at him, rather impressed.

"Well, look at you, junior detective." she joked. Nick shrugged nonchalantly. "You know, I think you'd actually make a pretty good cop."

"Ugh, how dare ya." Nick joked, as Judy chuckled. He turned his attention back to the screen, constantly switching cameras to keep up with the van. "Acacia Alley, Ficus Underpass, South Canyon."

"They're heading out of town." Judy noted, as the trail of cameras ended. "Where does that road lead to?"

* * *

"One bloody creepy building, that's what." Harry snarked under his breath, as he stared at the giant block of concrete and metal that stood before them.

They hid behind a toll booth to avoid being spotted by the white timber wolf guard. Once they were all behind it, Nick started to make rapid signs at the rest of the group, before he ran to the other side of the booth. It was fair to say that none of the remaining three had any idea what he was trying to tell them.

Unfortunately, as Nick passed behind the guard, a gust of wind blew Nick's musk directly in the direction of the wolf. The wolf sniffed once, twice and tried to locate the source of the smell. Seeing what was happening, Hermione did the first thing that came into her mind.

She howled.

By sheer luck, the wolf stopped in his tracks and began to howl as well. He didn't get to do much, as his fellow guard rushed up to him in an attempt to stop him.

"Gary! Quit it, you're gonna start a howl."

"I didn't start it." the wolf named Gary protested.

Judy, catching on to what Hermione was doing, howled as well. One by one, the guards began to howl in response, becoming almost useless as the four scampered across the road to a wall to the left of the doors.

Nick turned to Judy and Hermione, and said, "You two are clever bunnies."

They looked up to see a sewer pipe that appeared to run all the way into the building. Harry peered inside and saw only darkness.

"So... who wants to go into the dark and slimy sewer first?" he asked.

In unison, the three twisted their heads to face him.

* * *

"Of course the guy who asks, is the guy who goes first." Harry complained, his voice echoing along the pipe. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Shut up, and keep going." Nick retorted from down below.

Suddenly, the top of Harry's head impacted onto something hard and cold. A small _clang a_ ccompanied this.

"Ow!" he yelped, looking up to see a grate above him. "We're here."

He pushed the grate open, and climbed out, offering his hand to Hermione and Judy who followed close behind him, with Nick bringing up the rear. Judy, being unable to see in the dark, pulled out her phone and turned the flashlight app on.

Light shone from the phone, revealing a whole array of medical equipment that had been tossed aside.

"This must've been a hospital."

Nick noticed a large, heavy door in the corner and cautiously approached it, reaching or his arm slowly for the handle. He was about to grab hold of it, when he stepped back and pushed Judy towards the door.

"You know what, after you. You're the cop."

Judy sighed, annoyed, but pushed the door open and peeked in. Inside the room was what looked to be brand new equipment, mostly focussed around looking at the brain. As she scanned the room, she felt her ears being separated. She looked up to see Nick peering through her ears, using them as cover.

"Okay, all clear." he noted, retracting back behind her. Judy rolled her eyes, and it appeared Harry had done the same.

"You're a bloody coward, Nick, you know that?"

They entered the room, with Harry near dragging Nick by his collar behind him. While Judy took photos of the equipment, the two foxes looked down at the floor and made an unsettling discovery.

"Carrots?" Nick gulped, pointing down.

She turned around and noticed the foxes looking down at some rather large claw marks.

"Those are huge." Hermione noted nervously.

"Yeah, what kind of animal...?"

Suddenly, a large tiger roared and pounced against the glass behind the two. Nick and Harry practically jumped into each other's arms in their haste to get away.

"Okay, I'll give you that one." Harry conceded, letting go of Nick. "That scared the shit out of me as well."

A multitude of different roars and growls emitted from the glass protected chambers before them, and as Judy shone the flashlight onto them, they began to see why. In each chamber, a different predator lurked, down on all fours and attacking the glass that separated them. In the chamber closest to them, two yellow pinpricks shone through the darkness, and as Judy turned the light towards them, it was revealed to be the eyes of the jaguar that had chased them the night before.

"Mr Manchas." Judy gasped.

In the chamber adjacent to the jaguar's, a tiny otter scurried around, hiding under the bed. A pair of broken glasses and a torn sweater lay in front of the glass, and as Judy peered at the picture Mrs Otterton had given her, she came to realise that this was the otter they had been looking for.

"It's him!" she exclaimed excitedly, as Nick peered in as well. "We found our otter."

Mr Otterton poked his head out from under the bed, sniffing cautiously. Seeing this as a sign of his sanity, Judy whispered to him.

"Mr Otterton, my name is Officer Judy Hopps." she whispered. "Your wife sent me to find you. We're gonna get you out of here-"

In that second, the otter launched himself at the two, smashing against the glass. The two fell back in fright, and Mr Otterton scurried back under the bed, snarling at them.

"Or not!" Nick said, pushing himself back up. "Guess he's in no rush to get home to the missus."

"Guys!" Harry called, as he and Hermione poked their heads out from an open chamber. "We found Jake."

"Really?!" Nick cried, tripping over himself in his rush to see if it was true.

It was, and there on a hospital bed, with a machine monitoring his heart rate, lay a bandaged Jake. He groaned in his slumber, his eyelids fluttering every so often as he attempted to awake.

"13... 14..." Judy counted, looking at the mammals trapped behind the glass. "Not including Jake and Manchas, it's... fourteen."

Realisation dawned on Judy, as she remembered back to her first day on the job.

"Bogo handed out fourteen missing mammal files." she told the group. "They're all here."

At that moment, the door opened with a loud _creak_. Judy rushed into the cell the other three were hiding in, and peered through the glass to see what was going on.

"I don't want excuses, Doctor!" a familiar voice yelled. "I want answers!"

"Mayor Lionheart, please." another voice replied. "We're doing everything we can."

Judy pulled out her phone and hit record, as Harry turned to Nick, and mouthed _The Mayor?_

"Really?!" Lionheart said sarcastically, walking in with a honey badger. "'Cause I've got over a dozen animals here who've gone off the rails and you can't tell me why! For crying out loud, the last one nearly killed a fox!"

"Sir, it may be time to consider their biology."

The four in the cell turned to each confused, and it seemed they weren't the only ones.

"What do you mean 'biology'?" Lionheart asked angrily.

"The only animals going savage are predators." the badger noted. "We can't keep it a secret, we have to come forward."

"Hm, good idea. Tell the public." Lionheart considered mockingly. "And how do you think they're gonna think about their mayor... WHO IS A LION?! I'll be ruined."

"Well, what does Chief Bogo say?" the badger conceded.

Lionheart towered over the badger, and leaned over. "Chief Bogo doesn't know, and we're gonna keep it that way."

Judy's phone rang unexpectedly, it's ringtone echoing around the cell. She cursed, turning it off quickly, but the damage was already done.

"Someone's here!" Lionheart realised, as the honey badger began to usher him out.

"Sir, you need to go." she said, pushing the alarm. "Security, sweep the area!"

The doors to the cell closed without warning, trapping the four inside. Harry and Nick tried in vain to open the door, but to no avail, it still stayed shut. Nick threw his hands into the air.

"Well, we're dead!" he yelled, leaning on the gigantic toilet behind him. "You're dead, I'm dead, everyone's dead.'

Judy looked at the toilet behind Nick, and placed her phone in a plastic bag. "Can you all swim?" she quickly asked.

"What? Yes, we can swim! Why?" Nick answered irritably, as Hermione nodded her head fervently.

Harry glanced at where Nick was standing, and connected the dots. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." Judy replied, picking Hermione up and pushing her into the toilet. "Get in."

"And here I was thinking we were done with sewers." Harry complained, hopping in as well, offering his paws to Nick and Judy. Nick gagged as his feet touched the water, as Judy leaped towards the lever, pulling it down with her weight.

"Hold your breath," she advised, dropping down as the toilet began to empty.

Within seconds, they were pulled down with the water, and slid down the slippery pipe which led to a long drop to the lake below. They pitched off the end, and began to fall, Nick and Hermione screaming as they tumbled head over heels. Judy poised herself to be as straight as she could, and Harry, seeing what she was doing, copied her.

"Keep your legs straight when you hit the water." he shouted to Hermione and Nick. Hermione, being closer, heard his shout and followed his advice. Nick, however, either didn't hear or didn't listen, and he hit the water with large _smack_.

He surfaced quickly, holding his ribcage. His eyes scanning frantically for the others. Seeing no one, he began to call out.

"Harry! Hermione! JUDY!"

Behind him, the three surfaced, with Judy coming up last. She gasped for air, and held her encased phone up into the air.

"We gotta tell Bogo!" she yelled.

* * *

 _20 Minutes Later_

The entire asylum was completely swarmed by cops, and even a few ambulances had been called to the scene. Jake was being wheeled into one such ambulance, still sleepy from the anaesthetics he'd been given, with Harry and Nick riding with him. Mayor Lionheart was cuffed and was being brought out by Chief Bogo himself, with Judy in tow.

"Mayor Lionheart, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say-" Judy began, before Lionheart interrupted.

"You don't understand." he yelled over the noise of the helicopters that surrounded the building. "I was trying to protect the city."

"You were just trying to protect your job." Judy countered, as Lionheart was forced into the back of a police car.

"No! We still don't know what's happening." he screamed from the car. "It could destroy Zootopia."

Ignoring him, Judy hopped into the passenger seat next to Chief Bogo, who was attempting to apologise for his behaviour the day before. And as they drove the mayor back to the precinct, Judy couldn't help but wonder if Lionheart was possibly telling the truth.

* * *

 _The Next Day  
Precinct One_

"God, I'm so nervous." Judy said to Nick, jittering as she waited to be called in front of the press.

"Don't be." Nick said calmly. "Press conference 101. If you wanna look smart, answer their question with your question and then answer that question."

Judy looked at him, confused. Deciding he needed to show her, he pretended to hold a microphone.

"Excuse me, Officer Hopps, what can you tell us about the case?" he said in a news reporter's voice, before switching to an impression of Judy. "Well, was this a tough case? Yes, yes it was."

"You three should be up there with me." she said, glancing at each of them one at a time. "We all did this together."

"Well, are we cops?" Nick replied, smiling. "No. No, we are not."

Seeing an opportunity, Judy pulled a piece of yellow paper out of her pocket.

"Funny you should say that." she said, unfolding the paper. "Because, I've been thinking... that it would be nice to have a partner."

At those words, Nick's eyes widened, looking at what was written on the paper. It was a blank police application form. He took it gingerly, looking at Judy in disbelief. This feeling was only magnified when she pulled out the carrot pen that had started this whole debacle.

"Here, in case you need something to write with." she smiled, handing the pen to him.

Nick was deeply touched by the trust and belief she had in him, and he smiled, his eyes meeting hers. For a brief second, both seemed to forget about the world around them, as if nothing could break the gaze the two shared.

"Officer Hopps?" a voice that belonged to Bellwether said. "It's time."

The two broke eye contact with each other. Judy crossed her fingers, and walked up to the podium. Nick stared after her, his small smile never faltering until Harry spoke.

"You like her, don't you?"

Nick turned to Harry in shock. "What?! No." he chucked nervously, his face getting a little hot. "She's a bunny, I'm a fox. There'd never be-"

"Nick," Harry interrupted, a knowing smile on his face. "You're in denial."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are." Harry countered. "Who cares if she's a different species? And I know for a fact you don't."

Nick spluttered incoherently, but decided to just give up arguing with Harry, turning to the form Judy had given him. He was about to fill it out when he heard the Chief speak.

"So now, I'll turn things over to the officer who cracked the case, Officer Judy Hopps."

Nick looked up to see Judy nervously walk up to podium, which had thankfully been fitted with stairs to allow her to reach the microphone. At once, she was bombarded with questions from reporters wanting to know the story. She pointed to one at random, a beaver from _Action Gnus 5_ , to ask his question.

"What can you tell us about the animals going savage?" the beaver asked.

"The... animals in question..." she started, looking to Nick, who encouraged her to say something. She swallowed her fear and spoke. "Are they all different species? Yes, yes they are."

Nick smiled, nodding as he began to fill the application form out.

"So what's the connection?" a female reporter asked.

"All we know is that they are members of the predator family." Judy stated.

"So predators are the only ones going savage?" a ram asked, pointing his microphone at Judy.

"Yes... that is accurate." Judy answered hesitantly.

"Why is this happening?" a pig reporter questioned.

"We still don't know." Judy replied, thinking back to what the honey badger had said the day before. "It may have something to do with... biology."

Nick looked up from his application in confusion, and Harry turned away from Hermione, the same expression marring his face. They walked over to see what was on the screen behind her, and saw the images of the savage predators with muzzles clamped around their snouts. Nick began to hyperventilate, getting flashbacks from the time _he_ was muzzled all those years ago. He zoned out, and hardly listened to the rest of the press conference, only focussing on Judy when she came down from the podium.

Judy let out a sigh of relief. "That went so fast. I didn't get to mention you guys or say anything about how we..."

"I think you said plenty." Nick interrupted darkly, Harry behind him looking at her with a hint of sadness and anger.

"What do you mean?" Judy asked in confusion.

"'Clearly there's a biological component'?" Nick repeated. "'These predators may be reverting back to their primitive, savage ways'?"

"I just stated the facts of the case." Judy defended, confused as to why Nick was acting this way. "I mean, it's not like a bunny can go savage."

Nick felt like his heart had dropped to his stomach. Feelings of anger and betrayal flowed through him. He was just about to give Judy a piece of his mind when Harry got to it first.

"But a fox could, huh?" Harry inferred, feeling more than a little upset at what Judy was saying.

"Stop it, you two." Judy said. "You're not like them."

"Oh, there's a _them_ now?" Nick questioned, anger clouding his thoughts. He towered over Judy, and looked down at her menacingly.

"Back off, Nick." Hermione said, rushing in front of Judy. "I understand why you're upset. Really, I do. She made a mistake, yes, but she didn't intend to."

Nick turned to Hermione. "I appreciate your concern, Hermione, but this doesn't involve you." he said, turning back to Judy.

"You're not that kind of predator, Nick." Judy said sincerely, but Nick didn't listen.

"Not the kind that needs to muzzled?" he questioned. "Not the kind that makes you feel you have to carry fox repellent?"

Judy looked down at the little pink bottle on her belt in shame, realising that she had been carrying it around since she had arrived in Zootopia, without even knowing. Harry glanced down at her belt in shock.

"Yeah, don't think I didn't notice that little _item_ the first time we met." Nick chided angrily. "So let me ask you a question, Carrots. Are you afraid me?"

He got no response from Judy other than a small look of fear.

"Do you think I might nuts?" he continued, unsheathing his claws. "Do you think I might go savage? Do you think I might try to... _EAT_ you?" He jumped at her threateningly, and in her panic, she instinctively reached for the repellent, unclipping the strap as she did so.

Nick looked at her paw, mere inches away from the bottle. "I knew it." he said, feeling more hurt than ever. Even Hermione let out a small gasp.

Judy looked down at her paw in horror at what she had almost done. Nick scoffed.

"Just when I thought someone actually believed in me." he muttered, forcing the application into her hands. "Probably best if you didn't have a predator as a partner."

He walked off with Harry, without another word spoken. Judy unfolded the application sadly, and became even more depressed when she saw that he had actually filled it in. She looked up to see the two storming off, Nick even tearing the sticker off his shirt as they exited the building.

"I'll go after them." Hermione volunteered, charging full speed after the foxes, dodging the reporters that swarmed Judy.

* * *

"I can't BELIEVE that bunny." Nick yelled in frustration, as he and Harry marched down the street.

"I know." Harry replied with almost equal anger. "It's hard enough as it is, let alone with all the prey against us."

"It's not just that." Nick told him. "She knows why I can't stand muzzles, and yet..."

Harry stopped dead in his track, staring at Nick. "Oh my god." he gasped as his paw covered his mouth. "You told her the scout story, didn't you?"

Nick nodded sadly, and Harry put a consoling arm around his shoulders. Granted, he had to go on his tiptoes to reach, but at that moment Nick needed all the comfort he could get.

"I'm so sorry, man." he said, patting Nick on the back gingerly. "Let's go someplace nice, and we can talk about it."

A few metres behind the two, Hermione rounded the corner and scanned the street for the foxes. She quickly spotted them, and was about to rush towards the two when something happened.

Out of nowhere the two collapsed like puppets without their strings. The air shimmered around the two, revealing a bat, a lemming, three weasels and a red panda standing around the two. Each of the six mammals had their wands pointed at the two, just in case they woke up.

Hermione jumped back behind the corner, knowing what wands were capable of in the right hands. She attempted to listen in, and found that thanks to her new body, she could hear much clearer than she would've been able to before.

"Finally!" she heard a voice, which sounded vaguely like Professor Dumbledore's, say. "We got them. Grab the small fox, I'm sure that's him."

"What do we do with the other fox?" the stern voice of Professor McGonagall said.

"Just leave him there, he's of no use to us." Dumbledore said.

"Why don't we just kill him and be done with it?" the drawling voice of Professor Snape asked.

"He's not worth the drain on the small amount of magic we still have, Severus." Dumbledore replied. "Now, quickly, the less time we stay here the better."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock as she heard them go. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape were kidnapping Harry? But why? What did they have to gain from that?

She rounded the corner to see the band of mammals turn the corner, leaving Nick's unconscious body lying on the ground. She quickly rushed to Nick, pulling out her wand as she did so, and uttering an incantation she'd read in one of her books.

"Rennervate." she chanted.

Nick's eyelids shot open, and he stared at the wand in Hermione's hand in confusion.

"What...?"

"No time to explain." she said quickly, pulling him up. "They took Harry!"

"Where did they go?" Nick asked in a panic, not wasting any time.

"They turned the corner two streets down." she informed him, pointing.

Nick took off as fast as he could, following her directions with Hermione not far behind. They ignored the weird stares they were getting from other people ("A rabbit chasing a fox? Who knew?"), and sprinted around the corner just in time to see the last of the mammals enter through a portal.

Nick charged forth as quickly as he could, diving through the portal and disappearing to the other side. Hermione followed suit, but was stopped by an unseen force that prevented her from going through. She pounded her fist against the portal, but to no avail, for she could not enter. Tears began to fall as she began to break down from the effort.

The portal closed, cutting her off from any chance to get to Harry and Nick. She leaned against the nearest wall, slid down to the ground and began to cry.

* * *

 _* Who can spot the reference to Big Bang Theory? Prize goes to the first who can tell me the line, and who said it in the chapter._

 _** Who can spot the reference to Flushed Away? Another prize goes to the first who can tell me the line, and who said it in the chapter._

 _*** SUGGESTIONS TIME: What happens to Nick and Harry on the other side of the portal? What was the reason behind Hermione being unable to get through? And how will this change the story? The ideas are yours to tell me, so get in quick. The best ideas will be put through to the next chapter, so make sure you put your best suggestions in your review._

 **Author Note: Sorry for the longer wait between chapters 7 and 8, but as you can see, I had a lot to write. School, work and heavy writer's block are also partially to blame.**

 **I'm almost getting tired of saying this, but this is my longest chapter yet. Over 8000 words this time. Yikes!**

 **I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter, and all I ask is you tune in next time and review. Let's try and get up to 50 reviews for this story, and we've only got 5 left to go, so review, review, review!**


	9. The Rift between Worlds

**Author Note: Once again, thanks to all the people who've read my story and reviewed. You guys have given some excellent suggestions, some of which I'm planning to use in the story. We gone above and beyond the 50 reviews I asked for, so WOOHOO!**

 **I have currently reached over 5,000 views in less than a month. Thanks for all the support, guys, and thanks to the 54 people who have favourited and the 104 people who have followed this story. I hope that I can continue to produce the same quality of story that you guys fell in love with, and I couldn't do it without you all, so cheers.**

 **I've received some reviews/messages asking about how Hermione knew Rennervate to revive Nick, and the answer is rather clever when you think about it. First off, this is an AU and, in this universe,, Hogwarts truly is the best wizarding school in the world (barring specialist schools, of course) in terms of academics, teaching students more advanced spells than in canon. Also, due to Dumbledore's negligence, there was a high likelihood a duel would break out, and the teachers would've of course taught students how to revive unconscious people, just in case someone was knocked out. The last reason is that, due to Nico's (her brother) death, she would've wondered if she could've saved him with magic, and thus would've studied a few basic healing spells within her power so it wouldn't happen again. There's also the fact that her parents are doctors, so it's kinda in the genes.**

 **Now that I've gotten my speech out of the way, let's get down to business.**

* * *

 _"If there is no struggle, there is no progress."  
_ -Frederick Douglass

* * *

Chapter 9  
The Rift between Worlds

Hermione staggered back to the precinct, wiping aways the tears that she had so recently shed. As she retraced her steps back to Judy, a whole multitude of thoughts ran through her head. Why had her Hogwarts professors taken Harry? What did they want with him? How did they manage to travel from Hogwarts to Zootopia? And why was she unable to pass through that portal?

Questions rebounded off the walls of her mind, banging and clanging as they did so, each wanting to be answered as quickly as the last. But they were to remain unsolved, for these were questions that Hermione could not answer nor comprehend. What made it worse was that these were the questions that she truly cared about, and not only wanted, but _needed_ , the answers for.

 _What am I going to tell Judy?_ she thought, her mind racing. _She doesn't know about magic, so what should I tell her?_

Many explanations for their disappearance rushed through Hermione's brain, each one less plausible than the last. Obviously, she couldn't tell Judy the truth, otherwise she'd freak, so she had to think of something. Eventually, Hermione decided to just tell a half-truth, not really lying, but not really telling the truth either. That way she'd have time to figure out how to solve this conundrum, without involving Judy with the life Hermione had left behind with her death. She couldn't do that to Judy, especially after Judy's offer to take care of her when she'd found Hermione on the street.

She prepared herself for what she was about to do, and turned the corner to face Judy, only to be met by the sight of the grey bunny still being swarmed by reporters, asking for details.

"Officer Hopps, have any other foxes gone savage?"

"What do you suggest we do about this?"

"How will the ZPD protect us?"

Judy looked taken by surprise by the questions, as she tried to duck and weave her way out of the cluster of mammals that surrounded her. She finally got free of the reporters, and, spotting Hermione at the corner, walked towards her, the reporters still following her. Fortunately, Chief Bogo stepped out and made his presence known.

"Alright, alright, that's enough," he bellowed, his deep voice resonating across the street. "I believe Officer Hopps does not wish to answer any more questions, so it would be best if you ceased asking them. As you know, we have a lot of work to do in solving this case and I need all my officers ready at a moment's notice."

The crowd began to disperse at Bogo's words, thinning out and leaving with their respective news stations until none were left. After the last ram left, Bogo turned to Judy and kneeled down to be close-to-eye level with her.

"You alright, Hopps?" he asked with a tender-sounding voice. "That was quite the conference, and I know how hard they can be for new officers."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Judy replied unconvincingly, still upset over Harry and Nick's departure, but Nick most of all.

Bogo looked at Judy sympathetically, before saying, "Hopps, I think we both know that's not true."

Judy glanced down at the ground sadly as the buffalo continued, "Take the rest of today off, Hopps. That's an order."

"But sir," Judy protested. "You said you needed all officers ready at a moment's notice."

"I know what I said," Bogo countered, holding his hoof up to stop her. "But I also need my officers to be at their best, both emotionally and physically."

"Take the day off. You've earned it." he finished, walking back into the precinct. "Spend some time with that kit you've got there, why don't you?"

Judy looked down at Hermione, who looked back up at her.

"Did you... catch up to them?" Judy asked gingerly, hoping for the best.

"T-they disappeared," Hermione supplied nervously. "I couldn't get to them, and I don't know where they went."

Judy nodded forlornly, but her instincts told her that there was more to this story than Hermione was letting on. Deciding to ignore this instinct for now, Judy began to walk down the street, feeling rather dejected.

But suddenly, an idea popped into her head. An idea about where the foxes might have gone to. The hospital.

"C'mon," Judy said, pulling Hermione along by her paw. "We need to see Jake."

* * *

 _Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts_

The last of the wizards stepped through the portal, all thankfully transformed back into their normal human selves. However, their immense surprise was evident when they discovered that the kid they had carried through was still a fox.

"What the...?"

"I thought you said that was the boy, Albus!" Snape exclaimed, glaring at the wizened wizard.

Even Dumbledore looked confused. "That is the boy." he said, looking down at the device in his hand in shock. "This tracker is functioning properly, and even it says that the boy's location is where that fox is right now."

"Then what the hell happened to him?" Mrs Weasley shrieked, her voice near deafening the portraits that lined the walls.

"I don't know." Dumbledore admitted, nursing his ears. "Maybe he's been in that _horrid_ place for too long."

"I don't want to alarm anyone," McGonagall interrupted. "But we should probably deactivate that door."

In response, Dumbledore waved his wand and the whole runic array dimmed, the power from the runes returning to those who had given it. The portal winked once, twice before disappearing forever. He turned to the abomination that was the fox before him, and applied a glamour to the unconscious boy, making him look like the expected version of Harry Potter, with black hair, glasses and green eyes.

"That should do it." he remarked, admiring his handiwork. He turned to the wizards that stood behind him. "You can all go now. You've been a great help, but Nicolas and I can take it from here."

At his words, the rest exited the room, filing out one by one until finally only Nicolas and Dumbledore were left.

"You wanna do the honours?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of wiping his memory?" Flamel clarified. "No, I'll wake him up so that the procedure can go perfectly, but that's where my part ends."

Flamel pulled his wand out and pointed his wand at Harry, before subtly adding a twirl to his spell. Harry woke up, his eyes darting around the room in a panic, before they finally settled on the two wizards in front of him. He saw the old man that he remembered from years ago point his wand at him, and utter "Obliviate."

His eyes misted over and a whole multitude of memories were wiped from his mind, only to be replaced by fake experiences of Dumbledore's own creation. Memories of Nick taking care of him over the last few years faded away into nothingness, with their place in his mind being filled with memories of Dumbledore training him and protecting him since the fire at the Dursleys'.

After a minute, the mist over his eyes lifted, and he saw the professor kneel down towards him gently, placing his bony hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, are you alright?" he asked, sounding concerned. "You took a rather nasty fall. Do I need to call Madam Pomfrey again?"

"No, I'm fine, Professor." Harry replied, shaking his head to get rid of the fuzzy feeling that now filled his brain. "So sorry."

"It's alright, Harry." Dumbledore reassured. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"The last thing..." he said, trying to remember. "You said I was going to meet your old friend... Nicolas Flamel, I believe?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Oh good, you remember." he said in a relieved manner. "Yes, as I was saying, you are going to be the apprentice of my dear friend Nicolas. He noticed your abnormally high thaum count and was rather impressed with the progress we had been making, so he decided to make you his apprentice."

Harry's eyes widened as a new memory was brought to the front of his mind when he learnt about the apprenticeship system a few weeks ago.

"It's... it's an honour, Mr Flamel." he stuttered in shock.

"Just call me Nicolas." Flamel replied, at Dumbledore's pointed look.

"He'll be taking over your training from now on." Dumbledore informed. "And I believe it should be about time for you to become a part of Hogwarts, so we can introduce you to the world."

"Of course, Professor." Harry replied.

"You should run along to the Great Hall," Dumbledore advised. "I'll prepare everyone for the announcement."

Harry walked out of the room in an almost robotic fashion, stumbling a bit as if he felt a bit off balance. As the door closed, a devious smile spread across Albus's face, as he plucked a holly wand from his desk drawer. Everything was coming into place, for he knew that Harry Wilde was no more, and that Harry Potter was finally home.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the expression on Nicholas's face behind him.

* * *

 _Department of Mysteries_

When Ethan arrived at work that morning, he didn't expect more than a few breakthroughs in the department today, and maybe a small explosion from the labs, but nothing too bad. He might've even accepted a few new additions to the "Fate of the World" prophecy section, but nothing had prepared him for what he found in the Portal Room that morning.

He was doing his daily rounds, making sure everything was in order for his team before they got to work, and so far, everything was alright. There were no signs of sabotage with the equipment, no rotten ingredients and every room had been locked as per policy. But upon entering the last room, where they tested for ways to travel to alternate realities (one of the few ideas they'd taken from Muggles), he noticed something was off.

There were little fragments of broken glass scattered across the floor, and strands of what looked to be red fur strewn in tufts around the room. Ethan pulled out his wand and pointed it in front of him as if it were his only weapon (which it was). He heard what sounded to be a sob echoing from the corner, and he quickly spun around, a red stream of light pouncing from his wand and knocking the source of the noise unconscious.

He heard a small thud, and he advanced on the fallen figure, his wand still at the ready just in case. His eyes widened as he saw the perpetrator, who appeared to be a red fox dressed in clothes.

 _That's weird,_ Ethan thought. _What kind of a fox wears clothes, and how did it get in here?_

"Harry..." he heard the fox murmur, frightening Ethan so much he jumped back.

"Merlin's beard," Ethan cursed. "I've got to inform Croaker."

He raced to the emergency Floo Network, threw in a handful of powder, and pushed his head through.

"Master Croaker!" he yelled, hoping he was still home. Fortunately, his prayers were answered when his boss came into the room, his black Unspeakable robes billowing out from behind him.

"What is it, Unspeakable Emrys?" he questioned irritably, his voice sounding as if it was full of charcoal. "Why are you calling me this early in the morning?"

"Sorry to bother you, sir." Ethan apologised profusely. "But we've had a breach in the Portal Room. Someone who was apparently stuck in a partial Animagus transformation got in last night. He appeared to be stuck between man and fox form."

"WHAT?!" Croaker bellowed. "Is he still there?!"

"Yes, sir," Ethan replied quickly. "I managed to Stun him, but he appears to still be partially awake. What should I do with him, sir?"

"You know the rules, Emrys." Croaker reminded him. "Anyone who breaks into the D.O.M. is given an automatic ten year sentence in Azkaban. There's also the 5 years he'll get for attempting to become an illegal Animagus, which he obviously did since there hasn't been a fox Animagus in over a hundred years."

Ethan stared at his boss, surprised at the amount of prison time someone got for breaking in.

"Get to it, Unspeakable." his boss finished, waking Ethan from his stupor. He pulled himself from the flames, and hurried back to the room he found the Animagus in.

He saw that the fox was beginning to wake up, so Ethan quickly Stunned him again, before wrapping the perp in chains.

"Sorry, buddy." he said to the unconscious being. "But rules are rules." And he disappeared with a _crack_.

* * *

 _Room A-113, Zootopia Medical Centre_

Judy pushed the large, elephant-sized door open with all her might, groaning in exasperation at regular intervals. It was at times like these that Judy wondered why no one ever built doors big enough for someone her size at hospitals, but she pushed that thought aside when she saw the fox that lay in the bed before her. Jake looked over to the source of the noise, an oxygen mask clamped around his snout, and smiled at the welcome company.

"Hey, Judy." he acknowledged, his voice slightly distorted by the mask. "Hey, Hermione."

"Hey, Jake." Judy replied, sitting on a chair next to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, the doctors say I should live," Jake informed, sitting up as he did so. "But that my lungs were somewhat damaged by the jaguar's claws, so I'm a bit better."

"Good to hear that you're feeling better," Judy said, slightly worried about pushing him too far. "So, Hermione and I just came to ask if you've seen Nick or Harry recently."

Jake looked at her, confused. "I haven't seen them since last night." he told her, noticing Hermione's nervous look out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, Judy, do you mind getting me some water? My throat's a little dry, and I'm not allowed to get out of bed."

"Sure," she said, somewhat dejected about his answer. "Where do I go?"

"Down the hall, turn right, then left, then left again and it's in the lobby." he instructed.

She left without further ado, leaving Hermione with Jake. He leaned forward slightly and removed the mask so that he could talk without any distortions on his voice, keeping it in his paw just in case.

"There something you wanna tell me, Hermione?" he asked, wheezing slightly. "Do you know something about Nick and Harry that you didn't tell Judy?"

"No," she squeaked, subconsciously fingering the wand in her pocket. "They just disappeared."

Jake's eyes narrowed, looking at the wand that poked out ever so slightly from her pocket. Pieces of a puzzle Jake had been subconsciously putting together for years fell into place, and realisation dawned upon him. Her accent, the unfamiliarity with Zootopia, her wand and Jake's own experience. They all made sense now to him, as he gazed at the bunny standing timidly before him.

"Disappeared, eh?" he questioned, Hermione nodding fervently as he did so. "And where did they disappear to, hmm? Would it be, say, Hogwarts?"

The lids of Hermione's eyes shot up in fright, and she looked up at the fox who was now taking a deep breath of air through the oxygen mask.

"How do you know about that?" she asked, hearing her heartbeat becoming more frequent with each passing second of silence. "How did you know?!" she repeated.

A minute passed and Jake gingerly took the mask off his snout again, waving his right hand as he did. The heavy door behind her slammed shut, as if a gust of wind had blown it closed. She jumped at the noise before turning back, in awe and fright of Jake at this moment. The fox leaned over so he could be closer to the bunny and whispered, ever so slighty, to her.

"Let's just say you're not the only one who's died before, Hermione."

* * *

 _Unknown Location_

When Nick awoke, he knew he had never felt worse. He felt as if he had been stuffed in a freezer in shorts, it was so cold. His life seemed to ebb, and in his mind he thought that he would never feel happy again. But one thought prevented him from slipping into depression and insanity, and that was the fact that Harry was still out there, kitnapped by those blasted mammals. The will and drive to rescue Harry pushed him on, even against this blasted cold and feelings of hopelessness.

He pushed himself off the ground, and staggered over to what he thought was the door, guiding his way based off the small strands of sunlight that pierced the walls surrounding him. Unfortunately, the door was nothing but the bars of a jail cell, already locked. With his arms weakening from despair with each passing second, he shook the bars in an attempt to hopefully pull them off, not caring whether he knew if it was impossible or not. After a few minutes, his legs collapsed, unable to support his weight any longer, and tears of exhaustion began to sting his eyes.

"You might as well give up." a voice advised. "Azkaban's never been broken out of, so what's the point in trying?"

Nick twisted his head and saw that he was not alone. In the cell across from him lay a strange looking creature, no hair or fur of any kind except for the shaggy black hair at the top of his head. He was clearly taller than Nick, by almost two feet; and his gaunt, hollow eyes looked as if they'd lived a thousand years of torture, the echoes of forgotten souls leaving it's mark on them.

"Who are you?!" Nick asked in fright. "And where am I?"

"You're in Azkaban prison, buddy." the creature replied. "The unescapable prison. Built specifically for people like us, the criminals and convicts of the wizarding world."

Nick thought back to the powers Harry had, and understood that this must've been the reason for them: wizards. That must mean that the creature before him was one of the humans Harry had told him of all those years ago. But that didn't explain why he was locked up here, nor what the person's name was.

"You didn't answer my question." Nick said. "Who are you? What's your name?"

"Sirius," he replied, sticking his arm through the gaps between the bars. "Sirius Black."

"Nick," the fox said, extending his paw and shaking Sirius's. "Nick Wilde."

"Nice to meet you, Nick." Sirius said, his lips curling into a genuine smile before another wave of despair washed over the two, forcing the two to pull their arms back into their respective cells as an invisible being passed between them.

After a few minutes, the presence passed and two were able to resume their conversation.

"So what are you in for?" Sirius asked, leaning back on the walls of his cells. "I would've guessed from the look of you that it had something to do with being an unregistered Animagus, but that doesn't normally result in an instant Azkaban sentence."

Ignoring the weird word the man had said, Nick thought back to what happened after he jumped through the portal, and the rage he felt after discovering he wasn't in the same place as Harry. He remembered an adult of Sirius's species enter the room, his grey eyes twinkling in the dark, and then darkness.

"I... was in a room this morning, some guy came, saw me and knocked me unconscious." he recounted to Sirius, earning a whistle from the man.

"Must've been a classified location if they carted you off here that quickly." Sirius chuckled, before becoming slightly intrigued. "What were you doing in there anyway?"

"Chasing after my son, Harry.." Nick replied forlornly.

"Harry Wilde." Sirius muttered before shrugging. "Sounds like a good name. Did you or your wife choose it?"

"I'm not married," Nick said. "And I actually adopted him when I found him on the street. Back then, his name was Harry Potter."

The small smile that was painted on Sirius's face quickly morphed into a look of shock. He turned his head towards the fox, not sure if he heard right.

"I'm sorry, but did you say his name was Harry Potter?"

"Yeah."

"Emerald green eyes?" Sirius continued to clarify. "Possibly a little short?"

"Yeah, how did you..." Nick began, only to be cut off by Sirius.

"It doesn't matter, but what does matter is that I'm gonna get you out of here." he promised sincerely. "No matter what."

* * *

 _* SUGGESTIONS TIME: What house should Harry be sorted in? Who will help him get back to Zootopia? How will Harry get his memory back? And how will Nick get out of Azkaban? These are up to you, and I'd like it if you put your ideas in your review. Thanks._

 **Author Note: I know this chapter wasn't as long as the previous one, but then again, what are the chances of me doing a 9000 word chapter? As always, please review and I shall post chapter ten soon.**

 **And to those who are afraid that I'm hating on Snape, don't worry, I'm not. He is the most complex character in the books, and Alan Rickman (RIP, buddy) played him perfectly in the films. I shall explain my reasoning behind his characterisation in the next chapter. Stay tuned.**


	10. Changes and Revelations

**Author Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 9. So far that is the most reviewed chapter of them all (currently tied with chapter 3), and I couldn't be happier, considering that I got the 10 reviews in a single day. Special props to the first reviewer of chapter 9, the Guest to the site, who delivered the best (in my opinion) review for the chapter, just for the sheer brilliance and hilarity the response provided to the page. And kudos to samoht for the longest review yet, thanks for the ideas man, a few will be used.**

 **Anyway in this chapter, revelations, of course, shall be made (although they won't be revelations to those who've paid attention to previous chapters). We'll finally see how Hogwarts has changed from canon with Harry's absence, and new players shall come into fruition, in both Zootopia and Harry's world.**

 **On to the chapter!**

* * *

 _"Every righteous man or woman is entitled to revelation concerning his own affairs."  
-_Gordon B. Hinckley

* * *

Chapter 10  
Changes and Revelations

Harry walked down the corridor on his way to the Great Hall, wondering why he felt so light-headed and off balance. He shook his head tenderly in an attempt to rid himself of the sensation, but it only continued to get worse. He had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he had forgotten something important, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was.

Deciding to ignore it for the time being, he opened the secret passageway he remembered Dumbledore showing him at the beginning of the year, the passageway he knew led to just behind the staff table in the Great Hall. He reached the end of the passageway and come to a halt, waiting for some sort of signal from the professor to enter.

As he listened, he heard the rumbling sound of thousands of students entering, their shoes clopping across the marble floor. As the pupils settled down, he heard a few muffled calls of confusion pierce through the thick wood of the door. Quite quickly, he heard the ringing sounds of a goblet being softly struck by something. The hall quietened down.

"Thank you." said the softened voice of Dumbledore. "As I'm sure many of you sharp pupils have noticed, we have brought out the Sorting Hat, which is to be used tonight for a rather special occasion."

There was a cacophony of hushed whispers, spreading like wildfire across the hall, each probably conversing with their housemates about their theories regarding this 'occasion'.

"I know it may be a little late in the year for Sorting," Dumbledore continued, ignoring the many conversations that persisted. "But I believe you all might recognise the student's name when you hear it."

"He was, regrettably, unable to attend the ceremony at the start of the year for reasons that shall remain undisclosed," he said quickly. "Nonetheless, today he shall start his Hogwarts journey, and be sorted into his house."

The murmuring increased in volume, as Harry could sense more and more students sitting on the edge of their seats, pondering who this person could possibly be. The level of eagerness for the name of the student reached unfound heights, until the Headmaster finally spoke.

"And so, I hope you'll all join me in welcoming our newest student, no matter what house he ends up in." Dumbledore resumed. Harry took that as the signal and gently pushed the door open to reveal himself to the school, slowly making his way to the centre of the room where the Sorting Hat rested on a three-legged stool. He could almost feel the eyes of everyone in the room following him, attempting to discern who he was.

"Harry Potter." Dumbledore finished. The whispers that had once echoed around the room now turned into noisy chatter, with more than a few gasps emitting from the tables. As Harry placed the wide-brimmed, parched hat on top of his head, he heard what sounded to be a firecracker going off, and then silence, before his eyes were met with the dark insides of the hat.

" _Interesting._ " a voice inside his head said. " _Yes, v_ _ery interesting. Plenty of courage, I see. And loyalty to those you love. But... there is something I cannot yet access, hidden in the folds of your mind._ "

Harry's eyes widened inside the hat. What was it that the hat couldn't access? What was hidden in his mind?

A few seconds passed, with no word from the hat, until...

" _Ah, now I see._ "said the hat in understanding. " _You've hidden behind a mask for some time. Underneath the guise you present, there is a need for something. The need for a person who you can trust, a person you can open your heart_ _to_."

Harry couldn't comprehend what the hat was saying. He felt the need for a person he can trust? But he had Dumbledore, wasn't he a person who Harry already trusted?

" _You... don't yet know?_ " the hat asked, as if responding to Harry's thoughts. " _The old man's spell will complete its' work eventually, but until that time you will need to lay low._ "

 _What do you mean?_ Harry thought to the hat. _What don't I yet know?_

" _I'm bound by the headmaster to not disclose any information to any student,_ " the hat replied sorrowfully. " _All I can say is, find people you can trust in this school, and what better place to do it than..._ "

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted out to the hall.

Harry removed the hat from his head, and was met with shocked silence. For a moment, there was no movement; no clapping of hands, no cheering emanating from any table, just silence.

And then the hall erupted, with a large dissonance of applause gushing from the far left table, accompanied by jubilant cries of "We've got Potter! We've got Potter!" resonating across the table. There were a few roars of outrage from the table beside the Hufflepuffs, mainly from a young redhead boy, but other than that there was no other sound whatsoever, bar from the chanting that reverberated from the Hufflepuffs.

Harry strode towards the Hufflepuff table, and as he sat down, he received a multitude of claps on the back from various people; some older, some the same age as him. As this happened, Harry turned his head to the staff table, and saw that Dumbledore was clapping, but his eyes twinkled with what looked to be confusion, only enhanced by his slightly wider eyes.

Harry chose to overlook this, assuming that maybe the professor was shocked that Harry had gone into Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor like his parents. It was quite common for kids to be in the same houses as their parents, so maybe that was the cause of Dumbledore's reaction. He turned to the rest of the table and waited for dinner to end, pondering what the hat had said.

* * *

 _Room A-113, Zootopia Medical Centre_

Hermione gaped at Jake in shock, contemplating what the fox had just said. _Not the only one who's died before_?

"What-? What do you mean?" Hermione spluttered at the fox.

Jake took another deep breath from the oxygen mask, his eyes never leaving Hermione. He removed the mask from his muzzle once again, and spoke.

"I said exactly what I meant, Hermione." he wheezed. "You're not the only one. There's at least one other who's died, and still lives: me."

At Hermione's befuddled look, Jake continued. "I was born to an old wizard family that lived in Surrey, a small but respectable house." he explained. "I was the youngest of two, and one day, my older brother and I were flying around, trying to see who could go the highest. Next thing I knew, some force knocked me off my broom, and I fell hundreds of feet to the ground."

He took another breath from the mask, before continuing.

"I... died, and woke up in Zootopia." he said, turning to Hermione. "And I'm guessing a similar thing happened to you. Didn't it?"

Hermione looked down, and answered in a hoarse voice. "Yes."

"Now, I'm gonna ask you again, Hermione, and you better tell me the truth." he ordered, his voice sounding a little croaky. "What happened to Nick and Harry?"

"Harry got taken!" she blurted out, knowing she was caught. "Nick and I ran after him, and Nick jumped through this portal thing just before it closed."

Jake's ears perked up and his eyes sparkled, whether in rage or glee, Hermione could not tell.

"A portal?" he clarified, gears turning inside his head. "Do you know who took them?"

"I only heard three voices I recognised." Hermione replied, thinking back to the event. "They were Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape from..."

"Yeah, I've heard of them," Jake said, nodding his head as he made note of this. "Where was the portal?"

"Uh... near the police precinct." Hermione recalled, not yet knowledgeable about Zootopia's streets. Jake sighed, quickly reminded that Hermione was still new to the city.

"When I get out of here in a couple days, could you show me where it was?" he asked. He pointed to the pants he had worn when he had been attacked. "Could you look into the right pocket of those pants, please?"

Hermione did so, though she was in confusion as to why, and pulled out two thin devices that she had never seen before.

"Take one of the phones," he said through the mask. "I'll call you when I get out, and you can show me where they disappeared. Okay?"

"O-okay." Hermione responded, pocketing one. "Where did you get these?"

Jake looked a little sheepish. "They're... part of the reason I'm in here in the first place." At Hermione's look of shock, he added, "Don't worry, just don't tell Judy I've still got 'em."

The door creaked open again, as Judy entered the room once again, carrying a styrofoam cup of water.

"Sorry it took so long." she apologised. "The water dispenser was broken, so I had to use the larger one."

"It's alright, Judy." Jake said, putting on a smile for the grey bunny as he tenderly grabbed the cup from her. "Hermione and I were just talking."

"Really? About what?" Judy asked curiously, turning to Hermione.

"Just about our past." he supplied simply, looking pointedly at Hermione over Judy's shoulder. "Turns out we lived quite close to each other when we were little."

 _I can't believe it_ , Jake thought as the two bunnies talked, _Maybe my ancestor really did travel between realities. And maybe I can find a way back._

* * *

 _Azkaban, Middle of the North Sea_

Nick shivered as another cold presence glided past his cell, and he prepared himself for the usual swell of misery to overtake him. He didn't know what the hell was causing it, but he was definitely grateful Zootopia didn't have anything like it, otherwise he would've gone mad years ago. The feeling passed, and Nick turned his head weakly to Sirius in the cell across from him. Sirius had the same pained expression across his face, but it appeared he had almost gotten used to it in his stay in the prison.

At that moment, a young human crossed in front of their cells, looking nervous as he walked down the hall. As he passed, Sirius seemed to perk up and a small smirk spread across his face.

"Psst." he whispered to Nick. "I've got an idea. Be ready."

The guard reached the end of the corridor and was about to turn the corner when Sirius began to enact his master plan.

"Hey! A prisoner got loose!" he called, deepening his voice. "Cell 98!"

The new guard spun around quick as lightning, and raced down the heart in the direction of the cell. In his urgency, he didn't notice the bony arm reaching through the bars of a cell, snatching his wand from his pocket as he ran past.

Quick as thought, Sirius turned the wand to the cell's lock, muttering "Alohomora." The door popped open, allowing him to slip through and make his way swiftly across to Nick's cell, unlocking it as he did so.

"C'mon," he whispered to Nick, offering his hand. "We ain't got much time."

Nick feebly grasped Sirius's hand, and was pulled to his feet... only to collapse back to the ground as his legs gave way. A faint groan of pain issued from his mouth.

"Aw shit." Sirius cursed, checking the corridor to see how much time they had. Seeing nobody, he turned back to the fallen fox and, with great effort, lifted the 4 foot being onto his left shoulder. He'd made a promise, and he was damn well gonna keep it. He wasn't gonna let Nick rot in here for nothing, especially since he might know where Harry was.

He fireman carried the fox out his cell and down the corridor, turning left at the crossroads, and began alternating between right and left in his quest to figure out this maze of passageways. Occasionally he felt the telltale signs of Dementors closing in, and he quickly backtracked, sometimes missing the beasts by mere inches.

Eventually, he reached the edge of the prison, Nick's weight causing his shoulder to ache. But he was so close to freedom he could almost taste it. Soon that rat who framed him would be his, and he could see the boy that James's son had become. And for the first time in years, hope filled Sirius.

A bolt of red light hit the wall to the side of Sirius, startling the wizard. He jumped to the side of the wall, his instincts from the war slightly blunt, but still serviceable after the years in Azkaban. The wand he'd stolen from the guard was clutched firmly in the palm of his skeletal hand, ready to leap into action at a moment's notice.

"ESCAPEE!"

The cry of the guard reverberated around the prison, and what sounded to be a horde of Dementors began to converge on their location, gliding closer with each passing second. Sirius knew, deep down, that at his current state, he wasn't capable of holding off one Dementor let alone hundreds, and that was without the additional worry of the fox he was carrying.

In desperation, Sirius looked for other options, and found none. He was even beginning to consider running for it when Nick moaned.

"The wall." Nick groaned weakly. "Take down the wall."

Sirius looked at the stone wall in front of him, and realised that Nick could be on to something. It wasn't necessarily a good plan, but it was better than nothing. Bracing himself for the backlash, he pointed his wand at the wall and cast.

"Bombarda Maxima!"

An almighty explosion impacted into the wall, spraying little pieces of shrapnel everywhere, a few even nicking the two's faces, drawing small drops of blood. The resulting hole opened the prison to the outside world, the harsh winds blowing the salty smell of the raging sea below into their nostrils.

"Hope you don't mind water." Sirius quipped, taking a step back. "'Cause you're about to get a whole lot of it."

And as the guards turned the corners, converging on their position, Sirius ran through the hole in the wall and leapt as far as he could, aiming for the water as he twisted head over heels.

"Keep your legs straight when you hit the water." Nick advised faintly, recalling a similar thing happening just days ago.

Sirius obliged, and soon after they sliced through the water, disappearing into the depths of the ocean. And to the watchful eyes of the guards who watched them from above, never to resurface.

* * *

 _The Next Day  
Potion Master's Office, Hogwarts_

Severus Snape did not truly consider himself to be a very sentimental person, not even a bit. He didn't find comfort in many of the trinkets he had amassed from past years, nor nostalgia as he gazed at the assortment of photos taken prior to his adulthood. None of these found a special place in his heart, except for those from _her_.

Even after ten long years, he still had feelings for her, though she was long dead and buried six feet under. He still wished he had done something more to help, and possibly kept in contact with her, even after her marriage to the late Potter. A little letter sent here and there, and it was possible that Snape may not have committed the atrocities he had.

But that was all in the past. Nothing could be changed, though he would still be attempting to atone for his mistakes and keep her legacy alive, despite the fact that her legacy was also the spawn of Potter. But to Severus, that didn't matter. A small piece of her was worth any price to him. And if he had to lose his very soul in the process, he would gladly pay it to keep her son alive.

He remembered how he had reacted when Albus had informed him of the boy's perceived kidnapping, and of how the abductor could've been abusing Lily's child. And whilst he was not proud of his reaction, he was willing to do anything to prevent the boy from ever having to experience this possible abuse again, even if it meant suggesting to kill an obviously sentient being.

And after all was said and done, Severus was still as surprised as the rest of the school that the famous "Boy-Who-Lived" had been sorted into the house of dunderheads, Hufflepuff. Any ordinary wizard would've thought that Harry was destined to be in Gryffindor like his parents had been, and though Severus didn't consider himself an "ordinary" wizard, he too believed that the boy would end up in the lions' den. Although, deep down, he had secretly hoped that maybe the boy could've ended up in his house, something he would never admit to anyone even under the strongest Veritaserum money could buy.

But when the boy had entered his first Potions class the day after his Sorting, he could see why the boy had gone to Pomona's house. Severus had observed that the boy was quite humble (something that was surprising considering his father), and helpful to those who looked to be in trouble. It almost seemed as if he was desperate for company, understandable considering everyone else in his house had already sorted themselves into groups and may have closed their group off to the newcomer.

The boy appeared to be slightly clumsy, not the original Longbottom-clumsy but the always-off-balance clumsy. Despite this, the boy never let his misfortune get him down, something that Severus somewhat admired in a person. As he looked back on that memory, the surly Potions Master smiled to himself, thinking that maybe the boy had taken after his mother, despite the appearance that the headmaster had given him, and for that the professor was thankful.

"He's truly your son, Lily." he muttered to himself, taking a small swig of Firewhiskey.

Who knew what the future held for the boy, but Severus could only hope that it would be suitable for the son of Lily Evans.

* * *

 _* SUGGESTIONS TIME: Who shall Harry befriend as "allies"? What happened to Sirius and Nick? And who is this ancestor that Jake alluded to in his thoughts? Comment with your suggestions and/or answers in the reviews section._

 _NOTE: I will give you a hint as to the ancestor. He's been mentioned before and is connected to Jake's last name (both are in chapter 3)._

 **Author Note: Not the longest chapter, but it's of a respectable size. Apologies for the long(er) wait, this week's just been REALLY busy and I haven't had as much time to write. I am astounded to announce that this story has had over 6,200 views, and is the 2nd most popular HP/Zootopia fanfic on this site so far. Thanks for the support.**

 **As always please review to show even more support, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	11. Author Note

**Author Note**

 **Sorry, guys, but I've just hit an absolute brick wall in ideas. I know more than a few will complain, but I feel I may need to rewrite this story. I've noticed over the past few chapters that my characters need some work, and despite the suggestions, I just can't figure out where my story should go from here and how to get the story moving once again.**

 **Don't worry, I'm not abandoning the story. I just needed some time to think, write down a coherent plot and post the new improved story, without all the wishy-washy story-telling I've been giving for the past few chapters. This is only temporary, the new story has been posted, so don't worry. The gang shall return with a few changes.**

 **Once again, I'm very sorry it's come to this, but I just needed a fresh start. The new story is up with the title "The Boy-Who-Lived-in-Zootopia." Just go through my author page, look in My Stories and you should find it.**


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